Beach House
Devotion [Carpark, 2008]
Ever notice how every note of music recorded by Beach House sounds soaked with the residuals of nostalgia? I enjoyed parts and pieces of their 2006 self-titled debut enough (particularly “Tokyo Witch”), and then Devotion came along two years following that with generally stronger song materials. From the first album to the second, you can hear the two Beach House members put the stamp on their brand of dream pop more confidently without dramatically shifting gears. The way Alex Scally’s guitars dance in circles around Victoria Legrand’s airy vocals on “Gila” and “Heart of Chambers” with psychedelic momentum is a hazy thing of beauty. And when you listen to them ‘right’, Beach House’s music can be a totally captivating affair; the church organ affects and the soft hallucinogenic clarity of Legrand’s singing having the infallible quality to expand the song experience at free will. Every track connects to a certain romance, it seems. On Devotion, there are these sublime songs of lovelorn commitments (“All The Years”, “Home Again”) but I always find myself drawn more to those one or two instances where Legrand sounds absolutely consumed with childhood reveries. On the bruised waltz of “Turtle Island”, she sings “In all colors and prizes, you will always remain” like she’s channeling the memories from a mysterious friendship into a simple plea more universal – to please, please let me get what I want this time.
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