Stream: Gardens & Villa, ‘Hurrah’

Kevin Bronson on July 6th, 2020

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Gardens & Villa pay homage to the late songwriter and producer Richard Swift with their new single “Hurrah.”

Released Friday on the second anniversary of Swift’s passing, “Hurrah” comes bathed in the reverb that characterized Swift’s wobbly Wall of Sound — and, notably, it sways from melancholy (“I see nothing / that doesn’t make me cry”) to playful (“Hare Krishna / Hallelujah / Hare Krishna / Holler when I see ya”) in the same way Swift did. Singer Chris Lynch despairs in the upper ranges, as if trying to reach his departed friend with the cry “Goddamn I’m really gonna miss ya.”

Swift produced Gardens & Villa’s debut album, which came out in 2011 — back then, they were fresh out of Santa Barbara and spent a couple weeks camping in Swift’s yard in Cottage Grove, Ore., adjacent to the National Freedom studio in which they were recording. At the December 2018 tribute to Swift in L.A., G&V performed their biggest single from that album, “Black Hills.”

“Hurrah” is the latest song to emerge from Gardens & Villa’s forthcoming fourth album, “Gordon Von Zilla Presents.” The follow-up to 2015’s “Music for Dogs,” it comes out Aug. 14.

||| Stream: “Hurrah”