Social Programming Board announced Saturday that it would host synth-pop act St. Lucia with opener Painted Palms at the Gargoyle on Feb. 21. As always, tickets will be free with a Washington University ID.

St. Lucia is the brainchild of Jean-Philip Grobler, a South African-born, Brooklyn-based musician. Since the band’s formation in 2010, St. Lucia has garnered attention for its unique blend of relaxed, indie music and dance-y, electronic beats. Some of the band’s most popular singles are “Before the Dive,” “September” and “All Eyes on You,” which has been featured in commercials for Taco Bell and Victoria’s Secret. St. Lucia is also known for the remixes it has done for bands like Passion Pit and Foster the People.

St. Lucia has become somewhat of a festival darling, having performed at Lollapalooza, Governors Ball and Firefly in 2013. The band also opened for Ellie Goulding on her winter 2013 tour, which included a sold-out performance at the Pageant. This spring, St. Lucia will embark on a tour with Foster the People.

Frances Fuqua, a sophomore and concert director for SPB, said, “St. Lucia is someone who we were really interested in starting last year after a bunch of members of the committee saw them open for Ellie Goulding…In the fall [St. Lucia] was kind of at the top of our priority list because they’re so good live and have such good crowd interaction. Even though everyone on the committee has such different musical tastes, everyone really likes him, which is a good sign, to have broad-based appeal with the student body.”

“They’re on the rise right now, and this is maybe our last opportunity to get them in the Gargoyle because soon he’s going to be a lot more famous than what our budget is,” Fuqua added.

Painted Palms, who will open for St. Lucia, is a San Francisco-based indie-pop band. Its debut album, “Forever,” was released a few weeks ago on Polyvinyl Records Co. and features the singles “Spinning Signs” and “Forever.”

Saturday’s announcement came as a bit of a surprise because St. Lucia was not among the bands included in the student survey SPB released in December. (The original list included artists like Chairlift, Charli XCX and Jukebox the Ghost, to name a few.)

According to Fuqua, “St. Lucia was somebody who we weren’t really sure was going to work out, but had been our first choice all along… The survey wasn’t totally conclusive in terms of what students wanted, and I felt like, along with the committee and the rest of the board, [bringing St. Lucia] was such an amazing opportunity and will be such a great experience for everyone that it was definitely something that we should jump on.”