Beach House
Teen Dream
Released: January 26, 2010
Label: Sub Pop
Bandcamp: /beachhousemusic
By: Katy Sewell
With two successful albums under their belt, Baltimore's Beach House releases their third and perhaps most successful effort to date, Teen Dream. In true Beach House fashion, Teen Dream creates an atmosphere with its emotion evoking lyrics sung by the beautifully haunting voice of Victoria Legrande which is perfectly complemented by the keyboard and guitar of Alex Scally. With an undeniable air of melancholy and nostalgia for better days, Teen Dream brings you along on a journey of love and heartache through songs like the remastered 'Used to Be',' Walk in the Park', 'Real Love' and 'Take Care'. In two of my personal favorites from the album, 'Real Love' and 'Silver Soul', Legrande simply shines. Showing off her powerful vocal capabilities and lyrical genius, these flawless performances encompass the full range of human emotion and capture the soul. Beach House also exhibit their vocal and instrumental versatility on tracks like 'Norway', 'Zebra', and '10 Mile Stereo' which are a bit lighter than the rest of the album. This album is a testimony to how much the duo have continued to evolve as artists and it shows with their most cohesive record yet. While each song on Teen Dream could effectively stand alone as a single, instead of fighting for the spotlight, every track works together in perfect harmony. I would dare to say Teen Dream is one of the best albums of 2010.
Bloom
This duo from Baltimore has virtually created the dream pop genre with their slow, mesmerizing melodies and vocals. In January 2010 when Beach House released their third album Teen Dream, fans could not have been more pleased with the ten tracks of perfection. With songs like “Used to be”, “Norway”, and “Silver Soul” Beach House left their mark on the music industry. Lucky for us Bloom is in no way a disappointment. It was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tortillo, Texas where artists such as Conor Oberst, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Explosions in the Sky have also recorded. The album was then mixed at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
Prior to the release of Bloom on May 15th of this year, Beach House streamed on their website the first single, “Myth”. Victoria Legrand’s voice is undeniably flawless and complimented greatly by the melody in this tune. As a whole the album is filled with several delightful melodies, and the lyrics to back them up. Track 2, “Wild” is about a bored, free teenager with a broken home. Proceeding “Wild” is “Lazuli” and “Wishes” which are both instant hits. Bloom is by far one of the top releases of 2012, and with Beach House touring for the next year they are the must see band.