Gardens & Villa – Dunes

Dunes is the second release from LA group Gardens and Villa. From the bright, breezy climate of their Santa Barbara base, this five-piece are transmitting waves of West Coast optimism to the rest of the world, with their own particular brand of electro-rock sitting somewhere between Local Natives and NZCA/LINES.

Far from being just another quintet of lads who play synth, these guys treat the instrument with care and skill – see here for live, genuwine funk-infused brilliance. Tight, no? And yes, that’s a flute, or a bansuri for the uninitiated (a wooden flute used in the Indian classical tradition). Such unorthodox additions to the Gardens & Villa arsenal have led some to label their music ‘psychedelic’, but there’s nothing of the Jethro Tulls here, the indulgence often associated with the genre in fact being completely absent. The group’s creative instrumentation is just one of many ways they capture and hold one’s interest, allowing their melodies to worm their way into your subconscious, and bed down for the night.

Dunes is produced by Tim Goldsworthy, and fans of DFA Records will be no stranger to that name. By the sounds of things, the members of Gardens & Villa and Goldsworthy all locked themselves into a studio in Michigan and went slightly collectively mad in order to make it, so his contribution shouldn’t be underestimated. Perhaps he’s one of the many factors that have produced a small yet distinct change in the band’s style.

This latest record is perhaps a little more restrained than their exuberant debut. “Bullet Train” is artisanal electro; carefully crafted, subtly alluring and permeated with a sense of self-destructive euphoria. Listening to it feels like the looking into the eyes of a femme fatale – you know are going to be lead astray, but you don’t care (“Come and die young”, as the lyrics say).

“Chrysanthemums” and “Minnesota” are brief interludes of delicate of melancholy in what is otherwise a fairly upbeat 40 minutes. It’s worth reiterating that these tracks are not self-indulgent forays into depression – the overlaying and dovetailing of synth, piano and vocal harmonies and flute on “Chrysanthemums” is almost as joyful as it is melancholic. The band further showcase their refinement on “Purple Mesas”, a song that – with its ephemeral textures – is a hazy, retro throwback, laced with nostalgia, and reminiscent of that dream-like, surreal feeling of watching the sun rise after an all-nighter. “Love Theme”, the album’s closer, is possibly even more ethereally retro. It could almost be a lost excerpt from the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

The raw energy and optimism of their past is far from lost, however. “Thunder Glove”, “Echosassy” and “Avalanche” channel the energy of earlier tracks like “Star Fire Power” to create bright, bold and driving electro-pop.

Ultimately, Dunes is a collection of tracks which showcases Gardens & Villa’s distinctly original twist on the well-worn and much abused genre of synth-pop. It’s fun, it’s clever and it’s mature – electro-pop for adults.