Style: Synthwave, chillwave
Primary Emotions/Themes: Like turning on a radio in 1985 and driving down the beach in a convertible, the ocean breeze in your face
Thoughts: The old arcade game Outrun has one of the most iconic imagery to any game out there. The vision of two faceless people with hair blowing in the wind while driving down endless roads in a convertible is so iconic. That vision is exactly the one that I get when listening to Hotel Pools' Palmscapes.
The music on Palmscapes is in no hurry to get anywhere, it is here purely for the experience - the journey is more important than the destination as it were. The drums hover around 90-120 bpm and this creates an almost lazy feel to the music. Not lazy in execution mind you, simply a relaxed feel like it has nothing better to do and it's content to bask in the moment.
The synths are drenched in reverb and the melodies are very much in line with the pace that the drums have set. Simple synth leads played over a funky baseline, all slowed down just a bit more than you would expect for synthwave... but it works so incredibly well.
Hotel Pools have created some great albums in the past and are still pushing out their art today. Many of their albums sound similar, that's the primary reason why I haven't delved more into their discography. Even so, the two albums that I do have get spun on a pretty regular basis, especially when I need to clear my mind and take a mental trip like the characters from Outrun; Driving to no where in particular, but enjoying the hell out of every minute.
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