Back in 2006, a small dream-pop band named Beach House tiptoed into indie music waters, making only a relative splash with their self-titled debut LP. Although slightly unrefined and jagged in spots, that album showcased the Baltimore-based duo’s capabilities — blending shadowy, cryptic vocals with an equally enigmatic combination of warm guitar riffs and superbly-timed piano chords. Enter Teen Dream, the group’s third outing, which not only represents the maturation of this sound, but an increasing sense of emotional resonance and artistic depth. Oh, and did I mention? It’s also one of the best albums of the past 10 years.
Beach House in comprised of two extremely talented and connected musicians: multi-instrumentalist Alex Scalley and vocalist/organist Victoria Legrand. Together, they have perfected the band’s aesthetic on Teen Dream (their first album on Sub Pop), with a sound that is as strikingly bold as it is relaxed and nuanced. This duality emerges throughout the listening and, front-to-back, the album presents impeccable timing and arrangement. Slow, sombre melodies like the soothing “Silver Soul” are interspersed, for example, by dramatic, pop-informed pieces such as “Norway” and “Used to Be” (the latter was released as a single all the way back in 2008). The allure of this presentation — abetted by the illusory interplay of Scalley’s guitars and Legrand’s choppy vocals — sends Teen Dream to astral heights, capturing the ambiguous and surreal qualities of a trance-like mind state.
But beyond Teen Dream’s adventurous sonic qualities lies a powerful and transcendent emotional connection that brings the listener closer to his or her own experiences with youth, and the often painful nostalgia associated therein. While it’s fair to say that Teen Dream is definitely a “sad” album, songs about uncertainty, love and loneliness (like the failed relationship outlined in “10 Mile Stereo”) are universal, subjectively vibrant and, dare I say, ignored in most popular music today.
It is for this reason that Teen Dream is a cut above, a masterpiece that captures the emotional fragility of this world, the forces that dictate it, and all the beauty in between.
5 stars out of 5
