Los Angeles-based rock band Palms Station knows how to lift your spirits. Their finest examples are none other than the shimmering singles and music videos for "Alive" and "Blue Skies Back."
Palms Station comprises singer-songwriter Torii Wolf and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Hillel Tigay. While Wolf's attention-commanding vocals and broad range have given her quite the platform, Tigay is a cantor and musical director at IKAR, one of the largest and most influential progressive synagogues in Southern California.
Together, they create radiant tunes that mustn't go unnoticed. Whether you're a fan of versatile rock or need a sonic pick-me-up, Palms Station is your best bet. Their new single and music video for "Alive" is a joyous and reflective tune that sparks a fire in the listener. Not to mention "Blue Skies Back," with an accompanying music video that aches for a splash of color to lighten your days.
Diving deeper into "Alive," this empowering tune doesn't have a single lyric until Torii Wolf commands our attention at the one-minute mark. With Tigay's masterful soft rock instrumentals pumping through the background, Wolf enlightens us on feeling alive thanks to someone special. The song's thoughtful and minimal clip sees Wolf staring into the camera with her passionate performance, showering the viewer with emotional intensity.
In "Blue Skies Back," Palms Station sinks into an even more reflective and personal concept with Tigay's stunning instrumentation and Wolf's compelling lyrics. Her aching for the "Blue Skies Back" is something we can all relate to. The song's thoughtful music video sees a black-and-white world where Tigay and Wolf wander until they are united under a rainbow with their "Blue Skies Back."
Whether you want to feel "Alive" or want the "Blue Skies Back," Los Angeles-based Palms Station has a song for you. Find both singles on all digital streaming platforms and their accompanying music videos on YouTube.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Palms Station. We appreciate the empowering and uplifting nature of your recent singles, "Alive" and "Blue Skies Back." Does your band usually create such emotional yet feel-good songs like these?
Well, thank you for noticing! I’m glad it had that effect. If I were a classical composer, I’d write symphonies, not little piano pieces or quartets. I think large-scale and want to have a kind of epic orchestral, choral effect. I like to zoom out to the universal, the global, rather than focus on the minutia of the world as we know it to make people feel the aspiration for something bigger- for me, that’s the ultimate way to deliver emotion and inspiration. Emulating the music of Bach, there is sadness and joy wrapped up in what I do, and this is the sweet spot I go for.
What inspired the passionate lyrical concept behind "Alive?" How does the song's music video enhance your message?
The song was inspired by my younger daughter Mila, who had a lot of struggles at that stage in her life. Every night she would lie down next to her mother and put her head on her shoulder as her mother spoke softly in her ear and rubbed her head… Over time it had a very therapeutic effect and gave her a new lease on life. The song was written with me imagining the world through her eyes. The goal in the video was to have something incredibly intimate… No cutaways, multiple camera angles… no cast of thousands… Just a lone-face emoting.
What moments or experiences inspired your group to create "Blue Skies Back?" What sort of visual experience did you want to provide with the music video?
"Blue skies Back" was inspired by events of 2016 and thereafter… I remember writing the lyrics while wandering around the streets of San Francisco, dictating into my phone. I had written the melody and the line “I want my blue skies back” in my den in Los Angeles while noodling around an acoustic guitar. I’m sure the foreboding feeling subconsciously influenced me that things were entering the dark part of a cycle… and me yearning for blue skies, metaphorically and literally. I have a seasonal affective disorder, so when it’s gray and rainy, I get depressed. As such many of my songs feature the sun, blue skies and other things in nature that make me feel elated. The video was literally me going around the world… Several countries in Europe and different ones in America… Trying to show the common experience of the global community and humanity's collective aspiration for a return to normalcy, beauty, and compassion and to be liberated from the man who stole the world.
What impact do you hope your music has on listeners? What's your goal with songs like "Alive" and "Blue Skies Back" regarding the listener's experience?
Mostly, I want the songs to be uplifting and transformative… I want people to feel better after hearing it than before they heard it… Or at least that they are aspiring to be their best selves.
Comments