“PALAZZO” by FORRM starts with rock, but it doesn’t seem particularly interested in staying there. The Paris-based project moves between psychedelic textures, jazz-inflected touches, electronics and cinematic atmosphere, creating a sound that feels less like a genre exercise and more like an invitation to enter a world of its own.
There is a clear affection for the experimental freedom of 60s and 70s rock in the track’s DNA. Repetitive grooves, fuzzy guitars and blues-tinged textures provide a familiar foundation, but FORRM keeps disrupting that familiarity with darker electronic tones and atmospheric passages. The result is energetic without being straightforward, and psychedelic without becoming nostalgic.
The groove is particularly important. Rather than rushing toward an obvious chorus or payoff, “PALAZZO” by FORRM allows repetition to build momentum. The rhythm stays steady while the details around it shift: guitars stretch and recede, electronic textures widen the space, and jazz elements introduce another layer of unpredictability. It gives the track a sense of movement without requiring it to follow a conventional route.
The vocal performance acts as an anchor within all this experimentation. Distinctive and unpolished in the right way, it keeps the track connected to something human while the surrounding instrumentation continues to expand. That balance prevents the atmosphere from becoming purely decorative.
There is also a strong visual sensibility behind the sound. Led by Iranian-French artist, filmmaker and musician Firouz FarmanFarmaian, FORRM operates at the intersection of music, film and contemporary art. Inspired in part by Venice and the Palazzo Dandolo, the track carries an architectural quality: spacious, layered and slightly mysterious, as though each texture opens another room.
“PALAZZO” by FORRM works because it doesn’t treat its influences as boundaries. Rock is the starting point, not the destination. Psychedelia, jazz, electronics and cinematic sound are allowed to intersect freely, producing something that feels exploratory rather than neatly categorised. “PALAZZO” by FORRM isn’t trying to redefine rock, it simply seems more interested in discovering how far beyond it the music can travel!
