Arts & Life, Music

New music this week: Gardens & Villa’s “Dunes”

In a more audibly docile, yet just as catchy sophomore album, Gardens & Villa show they’re barely getting started.

“Dunes” was released Tuesday via record label Secretly Canadian and produced by the acclaimed Tim Goldsworthy, the producer of Cut Copy.

The new album explores love, human nature and the natural elements of the world.

The all-Californian band from Santa Barbara is well known for their unique percussion and harmonies, mixed with the anything but timid, falsetto voice of magnetic front man, Adam Rasmussen.

Whether in the studio with a synthesizer or a cafe with nothing but a flute, maracas and fabric-covered drum, the five-man band brings rich sound and a fervor for the indie genre that is rarely found in other bands.

The band, who reportedly left sunny California to record in Benton Harbor, Mich. with Goldsworthy, has always had a romantic, naturalist perspective to them.

This can be seen in their references to shooting stars and unbreakable human bonds in “Star Fire Power,” as well as the magic found in nature in “Thorn Castles”— two tracks from their previous self-titled album.

Having produced and recorded “Dunes” in a climate and setting quite different from California, the band brings a new sentiment to the album, which they said was influenced by the vast tundra and pristine, glacial conditions.

The band has always had a nostalgia about them, once covering Fleetwood Mac’s “Gypsy,” and now, is fusing 1980s tunes from the days of Prince, with bold synthesizer and equally strong, seductive bass lines.

While the listener may be longing for the group’s unforgettable techniques in their 2011 self-titled album, the stronger electronic influence will surely have fans begging for more.

“Bullet Train,” the first released single from “Dunes,” comments on life in the hectic city of Los Angeles.

“The young die young, if they work too hard/ Palm silhouettes, magnetic rails though the heart/ Young silhouettes, we were doomed from the start.”

Most of the songs are passionately sorrowful, from communicating lyrical woes with symbolism and intonations, to using simple piano ballads and wistful loops to invoke the feeling of longing.

The album begins with “Domino,” which immediately reminds fans why they love Gardens & Villa.

“Days are numbered/ Falling under/ Chasing all the dominos.”

The lyrics are rather introspective for such a catchy and upbeat tune.

In this album, however, Gardens & Villa adds slow ballads like “Minnesota” and “Crysanthemums,” which sharply contrast with their previous work. The calm yet charged lyrics culminate with symbolic repetition, “Crysanthemums/ Breaking down in a flood”.

The album tapers off with “Love Theme,” a brief, but passionate track that some might say does exactly what the band intended: it leaves the listener thinking.

Whether you’re already a faithful fan or have never heard the band before, do yourself and favor and give both albums a listen on iTunes, YouTube, or Spotify.

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