Song of the Day: Golden Gardens - The Ghost of a Total Stranger

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “The Ghost of a Total Stranger” by Seattle's Golden Gardens from their 2013 self-released Bellflower EP.

Golden Gardens – The Ghost of a Total Stranger (MP3)

Golden Gardens seem like they just spent the morning eating a nice piece of cherry pie, drinking a satisfying cup of coffee, and are now interacting with some of the regulars of the Twin Peaks diner. Their Lynchian sound, however, is not contrived – it is, indeed, of a spiritual arena. Harmonies glued and jumping and diving betwixt other shadow harmonies. The Seattle duo, who note “music boxes and icicles” as some of their influences, play a sort of dream pop music where an imagined creature is looking in on someone else’s nightmare, all while a porcelain ballerina turns and turns.

“The Ghost of a Total Stranger” begins with a bang, setting up instantly the drama, but then the song softens with strings and the feeling of depletion. The journey the tune takes you on reminds one of those shots of poor Laura Palmer on the beach, still, as the waves crash. Waterfalls, raindrops, a rocket launch a thousand miles away, “The Ghost of a Total Stranger” is big and petite all at once.

The band, comprised of Gregg Alexander Neville and Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble, have been playing shows and preparing a music video release since their album dropped in October. They'll be playing next on January 16 at The Sunset with Wind Burial and KYLMYYS. Look for more information and other tour dates on their website and Facebook page. For now, here's a video they just posted for "I'll Burn Alone", another song from the Bellflower EP: