Their sound is the swirling quicksilver dream, the thin wild mercury music of legend, the grit of the Delta bottom and the jaunty din of the cabaret. It is a sound of vision – a recondite vision to be sure, but such is the essence of My Gold Mask.

This Chicago duo, drummer/vocalist Gretta Rochelle and guitarist Jack Armondo, share a wellspring of personal and musical experiences that shaped My Gold Mask’s direction — a culmination, a fulfillment, of a long artistic road.

For the Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-bred Armando, his path was shaped by a wildly varied muse that flitted between surf-rock supremeo Dick Dale and the goth-pop of Depeche Mode. Meanwhile, Louisiana native Rochelle’s imagination was sparked by the exoticism of Hindi films and Japanese literature, and the sheer liberating force of Riot Grrl culture. A chance meeting eight years ago between the pair at a rooftop party in the Windy City would serve as the flashpoint for their musical partnership.

My Gold Mask conjure a feeling rather than a simple sound. Their music is a part art-pop, part sonic poetry, and part personal chemistry.

Rochelle’s seraphic vocals and intuitive percussion cut against Armando’s nylon-string guitar, a single instrument constantly revealing a symphony of ideas. The group’s debut self-titled cassette-only release, and a pair of follow-up EPs,  including the new A Million Miles (From Where We Were Last), have moved critics to fulsome praise, and a recognition of the band’s ability to merge soaring beauty and guttural power into one.