Welcome back to the continuing AOTY series! Today, /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu covers a little known record called 7, by up and coming new band Beach House.
Artist: Beach House
Album: 7
Listen:
Background by /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu
“Beach House” is a 2018 song by the world’s most forward-thinking and experimental band, The Chainsmokers.
What an awful joke to start out on I’m really sorry here’s the real writeup:
If The Wire is any indication, Baltimore is a place known for being where people get shot.
No, that’s not it either, I’ll just play this section straight.
If you’re reading this section, welcome to your first visit of /r/indieheads!
NO
Okay, Beach House is a critically acclaimed band hailing from Baltimore, USA, consisting of vocalist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally. Originally signed to Carpark Records, they instantly began to receive attention after the release of their 2006 self-titled record due to their melancholic songwriting paired with an aesthetic reminiscent of Mazzy Star and Cocteau Twins. They would continue to build on this success with Devotion in 2008, leading to the duo signing with independent superlabel Sub Pop. In 2010, they released Teen Dream, an album that kept their signature sound they had honed over four years but took every element to the next level, with an added sense of dynamics and more polished production. Earning enormous critical acclaim and a top ten spot on Pitchfork’s Album Of The Year list that year, it quickly became clear that Beach House would be a band worth following for the indie music community. Over the subsequent two years, they toured heavily and saw their music sampled by then-up-and-coming artists The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar. In 2012, their fourth album Bloom added in live drums to make their sound more spacious and lively. They would release two albums back to back in 2015, Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars, along with a B-Sides compilation in 2017. Earlier this year, they announced their seventh studio album with the single Lemon Glow, and in May, 7 was released.
Over the course of their twelve year career, Beach House has successfully maintained a musical identity which is core to everything they do inside the studio as well as on stage and in interviews. Focused on introspective lyrics and moods, simple instrumentation, gorgeous melodies, and a buttload of reverb, the band has created an aesthetic and polished it to perfection. Every song they release is unmistakably Beach House, and every show they play is mesmerizing. By 2018, their greatest criticism is that they never change and their music has become too predictable. 7 came around, not necessarily to disprove that, but to show that it doesn’t really matter.
Review by /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu
The big event yesterday was Spotify Wrapped dropping, and you know who my top artist was? Beach House. You know why I’m writing this? Cuz I love this band and this album. You know what you are if you don’t like this album? More than likely a nice person with different taste than me. However, if you’re wondering what all the hype is about with these two and you’re thinking maybe this album will help you like them more versus their previous output… it probably won’t. The fact is that this band has had a modus operandi for over a decade now that they stick to. While each album does have distinguishing features including 7, there’s a very distinct Beach House sound described in the introduction that holds up throughout their discography. Why then do they still receive acclaim? An important aspect of artistry is personal growth, and moving forward in your life and your art! Otherwise you start turning into a lame carbon copy of yourself that tries to relive the old days but never manages to have the same authenticity and impact of your earlier self.
These criticisms, while not prescriptive, are legitimate, and I can think of a half dozen post-punk revival bands and another dozen other artists I could levy this against. Eventually the well starts to run dry, and even if the sound is still there the songwriting begins to lack and the energy is lost. Some bands manage to make comebacks after a long time away, such as Slowdive’s self-titled from last year, while others manage to reinvent themselves like in Low’s album from this year. Beach House does neither of those on their seventh album, so the question becomes: has this band overplayed its hand? And obviously, since I’m typing this on an AOTY writeup on them, the answer is: nooooooooooooooooooooooooope!
Songwriting, production, creative vision, hunger to express yourself and be understood; these things are all still there more than a decade after Beach House’s self-titled, and not just there, but THRIVING for this band. They only change as much as they need to because they still can do what they know how to incredibly well. And all that being said, here on 7 there are some significant changes to the “typical” formula. The added psychedelic elements are a welcome choice, as it feels like a natural progression from the albums closest sonic sibling, the grandiose Bloom, and the more experimental songwriting they introduced in their 2015 albums. Dreamy neo-psychedelia is not a new thing, but 7s brand of it is more soothing and warm than its predecessors, even in its darker moments. The main ideas of the album center around beauty in accepting things and moving forward, often with people who love you close by.
“Dark Spring” powers in to begin with everyone’s favorite way to start an album: a drum fill. We were already given a taste of shoegazey Beach House with their lead single from Depression Cherry, the gorgeously noisy “Sparks”. Here, they hint more toward that path with whispery chanted vocals and a gritty synth that spreads out over the song as well as some guitar feedback. The influence from working with Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 to produce this album is clear. These give out to a more classic Alex Scally guitar later on, but the damage is done; Beach House is determined to make a statement and come out swinging...until everything skids to an abrupt halt and “Pay No Mind” starts. I say that like it’s a bad thing but I mean anything but; that transition is flawless and the first time I heard it I couldn’t believe that the song had even switched. “Pay No Mind” winds up being the opposite of the last song, a dirge that explores a bit more of the psychedelic side of the aforementioned aesthetic the duo is approaching with this album. While starting as solemn, the guitar turns uplifting after the verse to provide some starlight in the very dark and cloudy night you had been wandering through.
The clouds begin to clear up, and “Lemon Glow”’s wonky synth kicks in. The lead single from this album, “Lemon Glow” was a song I had already explored by the time 7 dropped, and while it’s already a top five song of the year and one of the best songs in the band’s catalogue, it’s even better coming right after the two preceding tracks. The percussion kicking in at the first chorus gives the song some punch, and with the amount of hi hat included in that I’m still waiting for Playboi Carti to sample this. After the second verse, there’s a bridge (“It’s what you do”), which turns into another bridge where the guitar scratches at you in the most satisfying way (“The color of your mind”), that turns back into the first bridge, that then explodes into a stupefying instrumental with thundering drums that rival the crescendo of “10 Mile Stereo”. “Lemon Glow” has to be seen live for this reason, everyone absolutely loses it during this section, Victoria and Alex included.
“L’Inconnue” is probably the lowest point on the album, but it’s still not a bad song, the counting part in French is just kind of sing-songy and childish in an awkward way. However, the way all the vocal elements are brought together at the end is stupendous and the song pays off in spades with it. “Drunk In LA” seems to be a fan favorite, for good reason. The ethereal synths that line the song coupled with that popping that’s actually a drum machine filtered through an organ, and a particularly outstanding vocal melody from Victoria are flawless. Part of that reason is that the production up to this point has been incredible, and I hate to spoil it but that won’t change at all. Alex has shown patience in a few of these songs and waited for an opportune time to bring in his guitar, but it’s consistently a powerful tool to change the dynamic of those songs and add some extra drive to the song. That’s especially true here, where the dirty sound of the guitar coupled with a small solo bring the song to fruition as its narrator reflects on their life and the things they’ve been a part of.
Blaring organs announce “Dive”, a four and a half minute crescendo of a song, as the whole thing builds up to a galloping midsection and some extremely cool lower guitar. When Victoria’s vocals return, they come back with force, before Alex takes his guitar to soaring heights propelled by chants of “Left all illusion”. Once again, everything is impeccably produced and each element is carefully placed so as to make a statement while contributing to the song. Now that we’ve soaked in the light some, it’s time to plunge headfirst into the dark with “Black Car”, a song that features an absolutely menacing synthline complimented by droney guitars and vocal filters to make Victoria sound almost demonic. Seriously, they just go for it all in this song and it absolutely works. Lyrically this theme of escaping during rough or dark times is present, but musically it’s clear that an escape isn’t always possible, that sometimes you are consumed. Beach House are determined, however, to have that only for a moment, as the various vocal melodies and a whaling siren coalesce into beautiful chaos, leaving just a thumping drum and that ominous synth. These become a pinging guitar, a lighthouse to guide you through the dark sea, on “Lose Your Smile”, one of the most underrated songs on 7 and a personal favorite. An acoustic guitar brings some fresh change to the instrumentation, and Victoria’s words remind us that while there are consequences for giving in to the chaotic world, there is peace in change.
One of the most interestingly titled songs in Beach House’s discography is “Woo”, which features small samples of people laughing in the background along with a very catchy chorus and a chiming synth that plays a strong countermelody. Together it all once again adds up to a complete package. “Girl Of The Year” is a downtempo ballad featuring some heartbreaking lyrics about a former muse of Andy Warhol, which leads us into our final song. “Last Ride” begins with a gorgeous piano before Victoria begins whispering to further add to the cozy atmosphere. Eventually Alex’s rock-based guitar join the song and take it to another level beyond a simple ballad. This continues until things slowly drop out and 7 releases you from its warm embrace into the night.
All that could be viewed as just more of the same, a played-out and tiresome set of ideas simply masked with a new coat of paint and sold as something new. If you thought that, well, I agree! Until they go full shoegaze like they do on the bonus track “Alien” (I just drooled thinking about it), this band is not going to offer anything particularly new. That might sound bad, but simultaneously their songwriting is so consistently excellent, and their music is so perfectly crafted, produced, and executed, that I fully believe they could keep doing this and find something fresh and original every time. If this were any other up-and-coming artist that made an album close to this level they would be getting unbelievable hype. All that aside, the stretch into a more psychedelic sound is a very welcome move, as there are sounds here the band had not used before and it’s clear that working with Sonic Boom was a great idea and a collaboration that will hopefully continue.
I lay all this out to say that I love this album and this band, and while they don’t change that much… I don’t want them to. When every single element and every note is so meticulously crafted and placed on each of the eleven tracks here, I don’t care about it being more of the same. I love that this band knows exactly what they’re doing, how they want to do it, and what they want to express every time they write a song. It’s amazing to see an artist at the top of their game continue to deliver quality material with every release. If nothing else, 7 is the nail in the coffin to cement Beach House’s place as a defining act of the dream pop genre, and a defining act of the decade.
Favorite Lyrics by /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu
See this state I'm in, is crawling in my skin
Fevers took me back, And turned me inside out
- Lemon Glow
I had a good run playing horses in my mind
Left my heart out somewhere running, wanting strangers to be mine
- Drunk In LA
Each time I'm walking at night
And I can't close my eyes
And I can't close my eyes
- Black Car
Dreams, baby, do come true
- Lose Your Smile
Talking Points by /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu
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How does this album rank in the bands discography?
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Is Beach House’s schtick played out at this point? If not, is the sound on this album fresh enough?
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When does an artist go from doing what they do well to being derivative?
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What direction would you like to see the band go in from here?
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Seriously someone please make a trap song out of Lemon Glow I’m begging you
Thanks again to /u/Yoooooouuuuuuuu for their writeup! The writeups just keep on coming don't they. And guess what? There's another one tomorrow, this time by /u/johancolli covering the new Melody's Echo Chamber record Bon Voyage. See you then!
Submitted December 08, 2018 at 07:06PM by stansymash https://ift.tt/2GfNoU2
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