The extracurricular activities of the members of Ava Luna might tune you into their weird wavelength. Becca Kaufman is a comedian and a performance artist; Felicia Douglass is a dancer; Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez run a recording studio in Brooklyn in their spare time. All these outside ideas–funny prose, danceable beats, and a knack for production–coalesce in Ava Luna.
The band set up shop last year in tiny Benton, Mississippi, recording their third album in a labyrinth-like abandoned house (which led to the album’s title, Infinite House). There is something ghostly to the sound of the record, as voices and instruments fade in and out at surprising times. Producer Dave Fridmann (known for his work with the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, and Spoon) helped Ava Luna sand down some of the rougher edges, but Infinite House is still incredibly offbeat. One of the oddest tracks is “Steve Polyester,” which blurs the lines between comedy, hip-hop, and punk. Kaufman’s absurdist tale sounds nonsensical, but Steve Polyester stands in for something–love, success, money–that you constantly chase. No matter what you do, it always escapes your grasp. Take a listen and download “Steve Polyester” below.
–Art Levy