Dean & Britta

• Genre: Dream Pop
• Hometown: New York City
• Dean & Britta Website

About

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips were part of the brilliant indie rock band Luna, which Rolling Stone accurately (if rather sadly) dubbed "the best band in the world that no one has ever heard of." When Dean & Britta started recording together as a duo, they veered away from Luna's dreamy but rocking sound, choosing a softer atmosphere that recalled mod-era soundtracks and 1960s/'70s duet records by Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood, Serge Gainsbourg and others. Their first album, L'Avventura, was released in 2003 and featured such sensual originals as "Night Nurse" and smartly selected cover tunes as "Threw It Away." Though the album was expertly produced by Tony Visconti (of David Bowie fame) and won solid reviews, it had the misfortune of being on the short-lived indie label JetSet Records. After scoring music for the coming-of-age drama The Squid & The Whale (2005) and Just Like the Son (2006), they went to work on their next album. Another intoxicating mix of originals and covers produced by Visconti, 2007's Back Numbers contains subtle musical quotes from a number of new wave classics and was able to reach a larger audience than its predecessor.

- Nick Dedina