Seraphina Lotkhamnga on November 20th, 2013

1

Gardens & Villa may have disappeared shortly after the success of 2011’s self-titled debut but the Santa Barbra quintet returns with sophomore effort “Dunes” Feb. 4 via Secretly Canadian. Once again fusing the organic with the electronic, Gardens & Villa boasts those high-flying falsettos in the midst of flutes and synths but digs a deeper groove this time around. Lead single “Bullet Train” is a downright dance jam with riffs that sound exotic as they do funky. Produced by Tim Goldsworthy (Cut Copy, DFA Records, Hercules & Love Affair) – who encouraged them to use gear like Sly Stone’s custom-built Flickinger recording console – at Key Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., Gardens & Villa endured a winter much colder than they’re used to as Californians. However, the drop in temperature (which forced them to leave the studio only five times total during the entire month) also opened their eyes to the wilderness in Michigan, and that discovery of beautiful isolation was paired with the appreciation for analog. Building upon tension in both music and in nature, “Dunes” is the result of all these new influences.

||| Stream: “Bullet Train”

||| Previously: “Star Fire Power,” “Black Hills”

Photo by Neil Favila