I caught Beach House a while back at The Laneway Festival and have been engrossed in their sound ever since. With a uniquely familiar sound produced by the boy-girl duo, resting somewhere nicely between a particular taste to a niche audience and an almost big-time indie act they produce lovesick, narcotized rock with lots of depth. With four albums spanning back to 2006, Beach House consisting of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, have forwarded their sound and ballooned into lush, almost bombastic, dream-pop on their latest Bloom.
Bands like Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Spiritualized, and Slowdive will come to mind, but this is neither pastiche nor homage. While a lot of their sounds and shapes are the same, Beach House’s recipe of fairground waltzes, ghosted lullabies, and woodland hymnals feels more intimate than those of their forerunners.
Bloom contains some of the prettiest melodies and synth swells on any album heard this year. Lead single and opening track “Myth”, with its sparkling reverb and persistent beat, is an expertly crafted pop song. The rest of the record follows suit, with highlights including “Lazuli” and “Wishes”.
Bloom transcends the banality of simple emotions and arrives at a realm of honesty and complexity.
Bloom is meant to be an experienced album drawing on the bands earlier albums and influences, accumulating into a refined and polished sound . It offers a singular, unified vision of the world. Bloom is glued together by the husky, full-throated sigh of singer Victoria Legrand, who by far has one of the easiest voices to listen to in today’s indie scene.
