Date Palms

In 2008, multi-instrumentalists Marielle Jakobsons and Gregg Kowalsky launched Date Palms as a duo in Oakland, California. Their earliest material took shape as bass-heavy ambient pop that layered electronic textures alongside organic violin lines inside slow, hazy, and largely instrumental works. After steady recording activity, the pair delivered their debut album, Of Psalms, through Root Strata in 2010. Honey Devash followed in 2011, and in 2012 they appeared on a four-band split compilation alongside fellow synth/psych artists Pulse Emitter, Expo 70, and Faceplant. Around the same period the lineup grew into a quartet with the arrival of bassist Ben Bracken, tanpura player Michael Elrod, and Noah Phillips on electric guitar, an instrument previously absent from every Date Palms session. Now operating as a quartet, the group began performing live and jointly shaped their third album, The Dusted Sessions, which appeared on Thrill Jockey in 2013.