Music
Vince Palmeri’s latest EP is grief dressed up in dance-pop melodies.
“It’s grieving the loss of a potential relationship that was never fully realized,” Palmeri says. “It's grieving the loss of somebody who, frankly, was my best friend and is now no longer anything to me, no longer in my life at all.”
The project is “totally autobiographical,” Palmeri says, with the five songs arranged in chronological order to map the fallout of a relationship. It’s also a departure from Palmeri’s rock-leaning sound that defined his past projects, like 2024’s LOVER BOY EP.
“As an artist, it's easy to just keep doing the same thing over and over again,” Palmeri says. “I want to push myself and I want to try to do something totally different.”
Palmeri worked with three-time Grammy-nominated producer Bart Schoudel, who has previously worked with artists like Charli XCX and Camila Cabello. Schoudel challenged Palmeri sonically with what he felt he was allowed to do as an artist.
He also taught Palmeri an important lesson: less is more.
“The first thing we came to decide is that we're going to get rid of all the guitars,” Palmeri says.
Schoudel also challenged Palmeri to approach performing and recording differently.
“It's not about hitting the highest note, it's about conveying the song in the best way and really selling the idea of the record,” Palmeri says.
The idea of the record is centered around Palmeri being his most transparent yet. He says he pushed himself out of his comfort zone with these songs.
“It's the most pop thing I've ever made, but it's somehow the most authentic and vulnerable at the same time,” he says.
That may be because Schoudel helped to push Palmeri’s lyricism forward by having him tell the most complete story possible.
“I remember Bart looking at me and being like, ‘No, that lyric's not good enough. You're watering it down. You're filtering the story.’”
The story is told through the cover art as well. Photographed by Talia Stewart, the image shows Palmeri next to an empty picture frame. The image was inspired by a lyric from the EP’s title track: “I painted a frame of us / So dangerous.”
“We put that picture frame off to the center in the cover just to signify there was this frame, there was this painting, there was this future, this idea that I painted with this person that was ultimately nothing,” Palmeri says.
That candor is what Palmeri says he’s most proud of on the project — and its cohesiveness.
“The way Bart was able to reference songs within the record sonically and borrow sounds… is what makes it feel like such a cohesive project,” Palmeri says.
“DO IT AGAIN” — the second song on the EP — recalls the sounds of mid-2000s Timbaland. The intro to track three, “SO GOOD,” pulls from the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” And the production of “GHOST” — the fourth song on the EP — reminds Palmeri of 2008–2009 Kanye West.
“It's definitely my most personal, my most honest lyrically, but again, somehow the most pop and electronic sound that I've done so far, so it's an interesting juxtaposition in that way,” Palmeri says.
That all comes together to make what Palmeri calls his "favorite record" he's made to date.
He’s bringing the new sound — and some older LOVER BOY tracks — to the Viper Room in Los Angeles in June.
“I'm excited to continue evolving and challenging myself, trying new things and figuring out what the world wants from Vince Palmeri the most.”
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