Stream: Dunes, ‘Runner’

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Dunes (Photo by DAvid Uzzardi)
Dunes (Photo by DAvid Uzzardi)

L.A. dream-poppers Dunes have been away for a while — at least in terms of output — and the L.A. quartet’s adventures and misadventures since they released their debut album “Noctiluca” in 2012 inform their new album “Bitter Charm.” Something of a supergroup of former members of beloved bands from the L.A. underground (Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda, Finally Punk, Talbot Tagora), the quartet worked on “Bitter Charm” with producer Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus). The making of the record spanned a period during which guitarist Mark Greshowak recovered from injuries sustained in a horrific 2014 bike accident, and during which drummer Kate Hall finished her degree at Cal Arts. Singer-guitarist Stephanie Chan, who along with bassist David Reichardt rounds out the foursome, calls the album, with its drifting melodies and echoing guitars and synths and “sentimental, melancholy, joyful and moody at times.” If you recall any number of Cocteau Twins acolytes from the ’80s and ’90s, you know the mood. “Bitter Charm” is out March 12.

||| Stream: “Runner”

||| Live: Dunes play their album-release show March 12 at Non Plus Ultra.

||| Previously: “Tied Together”