If 2008 single Used to Be suggested anything about Beach House’s next album, it was that it would be a grower. The track focuses around a dual piano/vocal melody, reminiscent of the more vibrant melodies of big sixties acts such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The track may not make the most immediate impression, however upon repeated listening its charm and sheer beauty begins to reveal. Unfortunately the album version leaves out the delightfully sweet closer, in favour of Victoria Legrand repeating the line “any day now”. Fortunately this is the only blemish on the first true classic album of this very young decade.If Beach House (Baltimore duo Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally) channel the ghosts of sixties attention to strong melody, they do it a lot slower than most would dare do it. Similar to Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, the pace never really lifts higher than that of a stroll, making Teen Dream an album that takes a while to get under your skin; but when it does, it takes a whole lot longer for you to break the addiction. It’s no surprise that Beach House produce music similar to Grizzly Bear; both bands have toured together (Legrand provided vocals for the Grizzly Bear songs Two Weeks and Slow Life). In a 2009 interview Grizzly Bear vocalist Ed Droste cited Beach House as his favourite band.
Album opener Zebra quickly displays Alex Scally’s love for clean, yet understated guitar that almost seems to sparkle. Legrand’s vocals are second to enter, evoking a younger Cat Power only with more confidence. Simple drumming, picked guitars and atmospheric keyboards run the whole of this album, aided by the band’s extraordinary gift for seductive melodies. This template gives the album an undeniable sense of cohesion, however this makes it a difficult album to love straight of as you will tend to think every track sounds the same.
Third track and first single Norway is possibly the album’s best track, drawing upon woozy backing vocals and reverb soaked instrumentals, until bursting into a glorious chorus where Legrand’s relatively high backing vocals are sharply contrasted with her regular singing style. This effect is repeated in album closer Take Care, where Legrand repeats the line “I’ll take care of you, take care of you, that’s true” while harmonising with herself to strong effect.
Teen Dream places tremendous value on atmosphere and melody, however tracks such as Lover of Mine display a surprising love of riffs instead of just mood-driven chords. While the opening riff in Lover of Mine isn’t in the head bangers category usually associated with the art of riffing; it does come across as effortlessly gorgeous and is one of the moments that sticks out from the first listen onwards.
Victoria Legrand’s vocals are a constant hook drawing you into this album. Whether smothered in reverb and surrounded by instruments as in Walk in the Park, or bursting out as in just after the second chorus of Lover of Mine; they are always engaging and very generous in their emotional offerings to the listener. Similar to Bat for Lashes’ singer Natasha Khan, Victoria Legrand has a very special gift for making ordinary situations and occurrences seem extraordinary just through the power of her voice (see Walk in the Park).
Previous albums Beach House and Devotion had always hinted that Beach House had the potential to deliver an album brimming with dream-pop classics, and Teen Dream marks the moment when they fulfilled this early promise. It’s hard to think of this album as anything other than a classic after you truly immerse yourself within its very welcoming and warm depths. Expect Beach House to be one of the most talked about bands of 2010, and hopefully if they continue in this vain, for a very long time.
Essential Tracks: Norway, Lover of Mine, Used to Be, Take Care
Teen Dream is released on the 25th January on the Sub Pop Label
Used To Be:
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