Photo courtesy of Terrorbird Media

Coveted thrift store finds always make for a good story, especially when it doesn’t involve a t-shirt from the ’80s that’s now ironic and too small. Take for instance Mr. Gnome’s B-side, “The Way,” which was largely constructed from a thrift-store organ the duo found for twenty bucks in Madison, Wisc. “I started messing around one night and found this one setting that reminded me of the Flaming Lips,” recalls singer/guitarist Nicole Barille. “I started free styling a few melodies over the simple chord progression, recorded the session onto a GarageBand demo and when it came time to record, used all of those ideas and tried to really layer up the vocals so that each part progresses until the end.”

Indeed, “The Way” is a lesson in vocal layering. The duo also messed around with electronic rhythms, a new thing for them. “We’ve always been into experimenting with every type of sound possible so this is just another side of what we do,” she says. “Lyrically, this song is a bit dark. There are moments in life where you may feel like you’re losing your mind and this was definitely one of those moments.”

Mr. Gnome’s new album, Madness in Miniature, is out now.