A top artist on KEXP 90.3 Seattle! Following their brilliant, acclaimed 2012 full length album “How Brave The Hunted Wolves”, Golden Gardens bring us the Narcissus & Bellflower EPs.
There is a pristine clarity to Narcissus that showers its listener with an almost crystalline coolness; a spring rain sparkling in the post-winter sunlight. Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble’s vocals shimmer with a new, uncomplicated presence – gone are the layers-upon-layers of vocals-as-instrument; in their place a confident, more straightforward soprano emerges, still milky smooth but mature, grown-up. Multi-instrumentalist Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville possesses an editorial deftness in his arrangements, spinning a web of smartly paired sounds that is neither too cluttered nor too sparse, seducing his listener with a crisp simplicity.
Narcissus is at its core a study of infatuation, both lyrically and sonically, and the tingling exhilaration that accompanies falling in love. Here is an analysis of desire and how it affects us on the deepest personal levels. The emotions are often fickle, the heart races, impulse is favored over pragmatism, we live inside our own fantasies.
Not unlike the transition from winter to spring in the Pacific Northwest, Narcissus lifts the dreary fog, allowing skies of the purest blue to shine through in all their loveliness. Ever-present is the trademark Golden Gardens “sound” – that lush moodiness so prevalent on 2012’s How Brave The Hunted Wolves – yet here it comes across as fresh, bright, hopeful.
For an interview and preview of the new EP, visit No Goddamn Dancing!
Following up Narcissus is the release of Bellflower, the companion EP, released in an edition of 50 handmade copies which immediately sold out upon release. The digital version of Bellflower will be available in early December 2013.
“You could throw out the names of more than a few established national-scale favorites that approximate the sound of Seattle duo Golden Gardens, but they really play their own brand of sedated electronic baseball. Lo-fi, beat-savvy gothgaze…” – Seattle Weekly
“With Creation Records and vintage 4AD fervor at an all time high there are plenty of listenable songs out there, but few acts are able to sculpt their work into a listenable full-length…[Golden Gardens] has developed a distinct and expansive sound that has allowed them to do just that.” – No Goddamn Dancing
Instrumentation
Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville – Guitar, Keyboards, Synths
Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble – Vocals, lyrics
17 Aug 2017 – Central Saloon, Seattle WA
17 Dec 2016 – Benefit for Standing Rock – Highline Bar, Seattle WA
11 Aug 2016 – Central Saloon, Seattle WA
7 Jul 2016 – Sunset Tavern, Seattle WA
26 Mar 2016 – Substation, Seattle WA
13 Feb 2016 – Neumos [Dancing On The Valentine], Seattle WA
4 Nov 2015 – Kremwerk [Bernie Man], Seattle WA
29 Oct 2015 – Pony [Hero Worship], Seattle WA
21 Oct 2015 – Nectar Lounge [PAC NW Showcase], Seattle WA
2 Oct 2015 – Steep & Thorny Way to Heaven [Brickbat Mansion], Portland
8 Mar 2015 – Barboza, Seattle WA
20 Feb 2014 – Lofi, Seattle WA [w/Soft Shadows, Blackstone Rngrs]
15 Feb 2014 – KEXP Session (kexp.org)
9 Feb 2014 – Artache Market: Chop Suey, Seattle WA (4pm)
30 Nov 2013 – Columbia City Theatre, Seattle WA [w/Suzanne Perry]
8 Aug 2013 – Comet Tavern, Seattle WA
4 Jul 2013 – Highline, Seattle WA
28 June 2013 – Josephine, Seattle WA
16 June 2013 – Chop Suey, Seattle WA
1 June 2013 – Neumos, Seattle WA
17 May 2013 – Columbia City Theatre, Seattle WA
28 Apr 2013 – Sunset Tavern, Seattle WA
8 Mar 2013 – Lovecraft, Portland OR
5 Mar 2013 – El Rio, SF CA
2 Mar 2013 – High Dive, Seattle WA
23 Feb 2013 – Josephine, Seattle WA
10 Feb 2013 – Comet Tavern, Seattle WA
31 Jan 2013 – Comet Tavern, Seattle WA
10 Jan 2013 – Highline, Seattle WA
5 Jan 2013 – High Dive, Seattle WA
4 Jan 2013 – Headcase Radio Session, Seattle WA
22 Dec 2012 – Rendezvous, Seattle WA
6 Dec 2012 – ALBUM RELEASE SHOW – Comet Tavern, Seattle WA
11 Nov 2012 – New album listening party – Vermillion, Seattle WA
2 Nov 2012 – The Mix, Seattle WA
19 Oct 2012 – BLISSFEST 2012: Subterranean, Chicago IL
6 Oct 2012 – Skylark Cafe, West Seattle WA
9 Sept 2012 – The Crocodile, Seattle WA
2 Sept 2012 – Comet Tavern, Seattle WA
17 Aug 2012 – Highline, Seattle WA
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