With the help of producer Tim Goldsworthy, the Santa Barbara band unlock a new sound in a Michigan locksmith building.
Gardens & Villa play the Boot & Saddle in Philly on Friday, Feb. 21, the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA on Saturday, Feb. 22 and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
After 30 days of recording, during which countless nights were spent watching Chinese cinema and listening to copious amounts of Prince, the group has fashioned an album that is not only seeming of the band’s usual psychedelic leaning, but reveals a significant progression towards a more new wave sound. While “Dunes” preserves Gardens & Villa’s flute, keyboard, and synth-driven melodies, an added electronic vibe thrusts their new album into a realm of organic and nostalgic rhythms.
Since their self-titled debut in 2011, Gardens & Villa has garnered a natural inertia to popularity. One that not only carried them into the highly regarded arms of indie label, Secretly Canadian, but landed them an opening slot for The Shins and led to their most recent, and otherwise unlikely opportunity to work with Goldsworthy, who is best known for his work with Cut Copy and LCD Soundsystem.
“When we first Skyped with him it was kind of like, ‘what the f—! I’m really talking to Tim Goldsworthy right now?’” says Rasmussen of his first meeting with the producer.
After having seen a live video, Goldsworthy was immediately charmed by the band’s funky dance music.