What do The Jackson Five, The Osmonds and The Sylvers have in common with Painted Palms? Each of these bands is a family act. Painted Palms was formed by two Louisiana based cousins Reese Donohue and Christopher Prudhomme, who did most of their collaborating via the internet due to long distance between them. Now, the duo is about to release their new album Horizons in September. Horizons has dazzling melodies and outstanding beats. I guarantee you will be dancing before the night is through.

Let’s start with the first track Refractor. The fast beat and background vocals in this song make you want to get up and dance. The background music in Contact is hypnotizing. Just like Refractor, not only is this beat mesmerizing, it makes a cool song to dance to. Gemini starts up with no warning. There’s no brief instrumental intro and no musical build up. You might think Painted Palms refused to keep you waiting and they can’t wait to give you what you came here for. Glaciers has that techno and rhythm and blues sound to it. Echoes is an exciting song to listen to, but you aren’t going to sit down while listening to it. You’ll be dancing in the middle of the dance floor.

Control has a strong 80’s sound to it. It’s as if two decades came together to create an amazing dance track. The beat starts to slow down a bit in Disintegrate. Although not as fast as the earlier tracks, it’s still a song you can dance to. Waterfall has a nice and steady beat and easy to dance to. Painkiller is somewhat repetitive. The rhythm finally starts to increase in the final track Tracers. The background vocals and the synthesizer make this an appealing track. What better way to finish the album than with a song that’s as awesome as the first?

Whether you love fast paced songs (Tracers, Refractor) or you prefer the mellow hits (Waterfall, Disintegrate), you’ll find that Horizons has exactly what you want to hear. This is an album that is perfect to play at a party or in a club. Either way, you’re going to have an excellent time tonight. So lace up your dance shoes and get ready to party.

Final Grade: A

About The Author

Lauren Beverly

Music Reviewer

I love to write and have been doing so since the age of eight. Fictional stories have always been a favorite of mine, because it gives me a chance to be creative and to express myself in a multitude of ways. On more than one occasion, a song proved to be the inspiration to several stories I have written. Believe it or not, some of those songs were on soundtracks! That’s mostly what I listen to, aside from hits from the 1950’s up to the 1980’s. I’ve learned that anything can be the inspiration to a story, even a poster from the 1990’s or a DVD cover.

I’ve lived in Upper Marlboro all of my life and spent much of my childhood watching cartoons of all kinds, and listening to my older sister’s cassette tapes. Growing up, I listened to everything Jackson related, Paula Abdul, Elton John, and even the controversial group Milli Vanilli. As a teenager, I continued to listen to old-school hits and that was pretty much all I liked, aside from listening to all of Michael Jackson’s music. To this day, I still love old-school hits. That hasn’t changed.

I own a variety of CDs from artists such as Styx, The BeeGees, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Yellow Submarine Soundtrack, and many others. When a soundtrack comes out, there will always be one specific song from that album that I’ll love. It never fails.

I’ve graduated from Bowie State University in December 2013 with a B.A. degree in English.

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