Electric Guest Made A "Garbage" Album Before Coming Up With 'Plural'

Los Angeles indie-bopsters Electric Guest have resurfaced with Plural — their first album in five years. And, to frontman Asa Taccone's relief, it's already won the approval of their old "mentor", Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton. The super-producer had sat on Plural for a month when they met up, Taccone fretting that he "hated it".

"I love him because he doesn't bullshit you at all," Taccone admits. "He will tell you straight out that he likes or doesn't like something — and it's rare that he likes something. [But] he was singing the chorus to this song Zero and he's like, 'Man, that's the best thing you've ever done.'"

"Just naturally in our lives, some of the things we were dealing with faded away."

Taccone formed Electric Guest with drummer Matthew Compton. They'd cut 2012's retro-funk debut Mondo with Burton — an associate of Taccone's older brother Jorma (from The Lonely Island comedy troupe). The duo's songs were widely synced (This Head I Hold for Teen Wolf). Between albums, they dabbled in soundtracks. Compton, Electric Guest's quiet half, toured with others. "I actually went to Australia with Devendra Banhart," he reveals.

Taccone was determined to produce Electric Guest's follow-up himself. "We just wanted to kinda see who we were on our own," he explains. They completed an album, but Taccone realised it was "garbage" — and laboured. "I think it was, not a reaction to the first album, but we wanted to make a left turn," he says. The material was "really sombre", compared to the old "upbeat and happy" Electric Guest — its members struggling with personal issues. "We'd send the stuff into the label and they're like, 'Oh, this is pretty dark, this is pretty heavy — you should keep writing.'" Electric Guest eventually rediscovered their mojo. "Just naturally in our lives, some of the things we were dealing with faded away. There was much more of an optimistic year for us and so we just pounded out this record in a year. It ended up having a much more optimistic, lighter feel."

Electric Guest salvaged tracks from the scrapped project — one being Zero. The ensuing Plural is the combo's take on modish electro'n'B, only warmer and groovier. "Both of us feel like this is our first record, in a way," Taccone ponders. "It's definitely furthering the sound that was established, but it's much more modern."

Electric Guest are joined by "friends", from Santigold producer John Hill to HAIM (the airily melodic single Dear To Me) to Joanna Newsom. The outfit had performed at Newsom's 2013 wedding, Taccone shares. "She's married to my homeboy [comedian Andy Samberg] and, basically, I gave them some of our demos for their honeymoon. When they came back, they're like, 'Oh my God, we listened to Zero on repeat.' There was a little harp part at the end and I thought, 'Oh, she should play this spot.'"

Electric Guest hit 2012's Splendour In The Grass. Will they tour Aus behind Plural? "We don't have any dates yet," Compton responds, "but I would love to come there 'cause we were there once before and I had a great time — I loved it."