BIG COSMOS

In Spain, ‘El Palo Alto’ means “the tall stick.” In Calfornia, it’s a giant redwood. Standing at over 100 feet tall, El Palo Alto is a 1,073 year old tree that sits on the banks of the San Francisquito in California. It was underneath this giant redwood where Portola and his band camped during an expedition, on which they discovered San Francisco bay in 1769. In London, England, ‘El Palo Alto’ is a glistening slice of futuredreampop from fivetet Big Cosmos.

Clocking in at just over four minutes, the first track to be taken from their debut Illuminance EP release, is a sprawling epic, all jam packed with shimmering synths, minimalist percussion and drawn-out vocals. Then there’s that sweeping, slick chorus to knock you off your feet.

Close your eyes while listening to this spacey slab of dream pop and you can picture yourself sat in the shade of the tall stick’s epic branches, as the sun glistens down across the beautiful blue of the San Francisquito Creek. ‘El Palo Alto’, you imagine, would be the perfect accompaniment to a sunny day.

Words by George Shaw

Tipped by Tom Cotton from Amazing Radio and Jeremy Lloyd from Laissez Faire Club