Houses

The Chicago origins of Dexter Tortoriello and Megan Messina, the creative force behind Houses, mask the decisive impact of a concentrated three-month Hawaiian retreat on the pair’s dreamy electro-pop aesthetic. During his teenage years in suburban Illinois, Tortoriello performed with metal and noise outfits before enrolling at Columbia College. He soon abandoned his studies, relocating first to California and subsequently to Salt Lake City, where he launched the solo endeavor Hospital Tapes. In 2009 he returned to Illinois and took a position at a local Apple store, where he encountered coworker Messina. Their relationship developed rapidly, prompting a move to Hawaii at the start of 2010 so they could sustain themselves off the land. While completing occasional tasks for a local artist, they resided in a Papaikou cabin; Messina pursued painting while Tortoriello advanced his solo work, among them the avant noise project Rainbow Circuit. The couple came back to Chicago in April 2010, allowing Tortoriello to persist with his recordings. The following month he uploaded the inaugural Houses track, “Endless Spring,” which Pitchfork promptly embraced; by month’s end he had secured a deal with Lefse Records, the label also home to Neon Indian and How to Dress Well. Messina entered the project at that juncture, and the two completed the album during the summer. Recruiting visual artist Alan Jensen to heighten their performances, Houses delivered their debut show at the 2010 CMJ Festival in October 2010, days after the release of their first album, All Night. Tortoriello additionally supplied live support for Tom Krell of How to Dress Well during the latter’s CMJ appearances. The band then shifted from Chicago to Los Angeles, where they constructed their second album, A Quiet Darkness, from field recordings gathered inside derelict roadside buildings along California highways. The resulting lush, occasionally ambient-leaning set appeared in April 2013.