Beach House - Teen Dream (2010)

Review by Lukas Suveg: Beach House’s name has always felt appropriate, but in a way that challenged preconceived notions of what said idyllic dwelling might be. Their profoundly nostalgic self-titled debut is painted in a hazy palette of muted colors, with the comforting warmth of a fireplace or a cherished blanket—anything to keep the encroaching cold at bay, really. With 2008's Devotion building upon the skeletal framework provided by their first record, the textural and emotional depth explored was to be expected, but the heights they’ve achieved continue to impressive by any standard.

And on Teen Dream, spring has finally come to the home of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally. From the outset, Scally’s nimble, cleanly picked guitar lines and a propulsive 4/4 drum kick signal a different feel for the duo. The resounding cymbal swells and crashes that anchor “Zebra”—along with Legrand’s richer, more powerful vocals—make for a perfect opener for this record. The vibraphone-esque keyboards and overdriven fuzz-folk acoustic guitar of 2008’s advance single/teaser “Used to Be”—the first clear indicator of an alteration in Beach House’s trajectory—have been changed slightly for Teen Dream, and arguably for the better. Legrand sticks to piano and organ; Scally trades the robust strums of the rough draft for his signature crystalline guitar tone; and a shuffling folk-rock beat supplants the metronomic kick, providing even more propulsion.

As a result, Teen Dream offers a much wider stylistic breadth than that offered on previous outings. As many have noted before me, “Norway” (not necessarily an album highlight in this writer's opinion) does revel in airy rushes of pop bliss, something likely unforeseen upon the release of their lo-fi debut. The reverberant guitar leading off “Better Times” even recall those on the “Top Gun” soundtrack mega-hit, and surprisingly, it manages to work here. “Real Love” is the starkest track, however, and reveals that Legrand’s talent can hold up even without Scally’s support. Instead, it’s carried on the strength of the singer’s plaintive strains, but more on that later.

Legrand’s lyricism is still wrought with loss and desperation, a well-suited compliment to her worn (but not necessarily weary) voice. The remembrance of things lost permeates the record, but nowhere is it felt more powerfully than on “Real Love” and “Take Care”, the final two cuts of Teen Dream. Throughout these tracks, she wraps incredibly straightforward declarations (“Real love/ it finds you/ somewhere with your back to it”) and questions, (“Are you not the same as you used to be?”) amid evocative imagery and lines of ambiguous meaning. As in the past, it’s Legrand’s voice that carries the bulk of these beautiful songs’ weight. As she continues to demonstrate, she is endowed with remarkable melodic gifts, and displays them from the outset, with the aforementioned (and near-perfect) “Zebra.”

Up until “Lover of Mine,” each vocal melody is incredibly affecting and well crafted. And even on that track—probably the album’s most relatively “weak” moment—the complaints are negligible. “Real Love” shows Legrand at her most broken and exposed, yet not completely resigned. It’s ironic, then, that album closer “Take Care” didn’t appear on Devotion, given the amount of the trait she displays in her incessantly repeated refrain of “I’ll take care of you/ it’s true.” It’s a stunning closer to what is easily Beach House’s most consistent (and possibly best) album to date. Despite a much larger budget, a new contract with Sub Pop, increasingly complex arrangements and immense amounts of pressure, the duo have exceeded expectations and remain a formidable force in the American independent music scene.

Last Word: Baltimore-based dream-pop duo Beach House’s Sub Pop debut (and third album overall) builds confidently on the lo-fi structures of their past work, and by all accounts has exceeded some very high expectations.