Santa Barbara native indie rockers Gardens & Villa return for their second album, “Dunes,” out Feb. 4 via label Secretly Canadian. Their 2011 eponymous debut was a highlight of the year, bringing soft, flute-enhanced melodies into the indie world. “Dunes,” which premiered on music blogging service the Hype Machine early last week, mixes the same flute melodies with a more synthesized approach. They counter the loud surf rock of their California contemporaries, Wavves and No Age, with the harmonic pleasure of a flute/synth/guitar/drum hybrid. This album seems to be a more mature and innovative take on their traditional sound.
The album begins with “Dominoes,” which is a fairly simple song. It starts with a catchy flute solo accompanied with the beat of a drum. “Closing doors, bending down / Picking up dominoes” is the first line lead singer Chris Lynch sings. It is almost fitting that an album so bent on mixing the pastoral sounds of 1960s pop and new-wave 1980s rock goes back to what seem to be hazy dreams of the past. Lynch repeatedly whispers “Don’t want to let you go / Never gonna get you go” and “Chasing all the dominoes,” which grows slightly tedious but does not last too long.
Highlights of the album include cuts such as the jazzy, Prince-inspired song, “Bullet Train.” It begins with a soft flute introduction and then Lynch moaning high-pitched lyrics. The words are hard to understand due to their pitch but the emotion Lynch places on his lines makes the song more about the musical accompaniment than anything else. This is a constant through the album. It is not very hard to pick a random song on this album and not be impressed by Lynch’s vocal range. His skill lies in soft details and the blending of his voice with the music around him. However, on certain songs such as “Chrysanthemums” and “Avalanche,” Lynch’s voice succeeds in soaring above the listeners’ expectations and creates a lasting impression. His repetition of “Chrysanthemums” in the former is sure to get stuck in your head when it is accompanied by synths that worm their way into your ears.
Lead single “Colony Glen” looks into the past from the future. Maybe he is warning his friends not to leave their home or maybe he is just reminiscing on old times. Lines such as “Oh my friends it’s been such a long time” and “Always remember Colony Glen” put out a longing grasp toward times long ago and the thudding synth line adds to that feeling. “Purple Mesas,” albeit an intriguing song, uses an ineffective metaphor to formulate the entire song; while the music accompanying the lyrics is solid, Lynch again fails to deliver a resounding vocal punch.
It is unsure what Gardens & Villa are trying to accomplish with this album. They have a decent buzz around the industry and are personal friends with commercial indie royalty, Foster the People. Certain songs sound like a hazier version of what Mark Foster and his band produce, particularly “Avalanche” with its synthed out buzz and Lynch’s powerful vocals. It sounds like it could be at home on Foster the People’s new album. Their use of a flute as a core part of their music is diverse and could spark a trend in the industry as well. It is certainly plausible that Gardens & Villa are trying to make the jump into indie-pop royalty, but they could also just be providing a fresh take on what they hear around them.
