Southern California's Gardens & Villa are at once comfortable with airy, breathable textures and songs that have a muffled, dark vibe. They dabble equally in "pretty" and "odd," while singer Chris Lynch has a pleasant, flexible falsetto that wraps around chugging bass riffs or vaporous, ephemeral melodies with ease. Songs like "Orange Blossom" (rich with Tom Tom Club–style funk) and "Thorncastles" have plenty of open spaces between the pianos, spare snares, '80s synths, and (in the case of "Thorncastles") carefree acoustic guitar strums. Busier tracks like the gorgeous "Black Hills" (which has a Broken Bells feel to it) and the ominous "Star Fire Power" are more tightly woven pieces with thrumming bass and synth lines, and whip-cracking, reverbed rhythm keepers create a certain claustrophobic air. The slinky, gritty "Cruise Ship" sounds like the R&B of the future, and "Spacetime" would fit in any B-movie featuring surfers or astronauts. Chris Lynch wields a sweet flute on several songs, and studio maestro/artist Richard Swift oversaw production of this intriguing debut.