Beach House – Teen Dream

by Matthew James on February 3rd, 2010

Beach House – Teen Dream
January 26th, 2010
Sub Pop
Score: 8.4

It was around this time last year that Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavilion to universal glowing praise. Immediately, it was everyone’s pick for album of the year even though we were in the tentative first weeks of 2009. There was still 11 months worth of music to listen to but a lot of people’s minds were already made up (not us at Sun On The Sand, MPP earned a commendable 2nd place in our 09 rankings.) Similar things appear to be happening with Teen Dream, the third album from Baltimore duo Beach House. Since the album leaked late last year, the whispers of the delights found within have gradually increased in volume across various forms of printed and online media and now that the record is finally on the shelves, it’s there for everyone to hear for themselves: the race for best album of 2010 starts here.

Teen Dream is a completely gorgeous record. Crafted with both passion and undoubted skill, it’s certainly Beach House’s best work to date. Appropriately titled, the album plays as a dream-like journey through the mind of young innocence falling in and out of love. Victoria Legrand’s vocals have never sounded better with her startling hybrid of singers such as Nico, Jonathan Donahoe, and Stevie Nicks finding an assured position behind the scene-setting musical adventures of herself and bandmate Alex Scally. At times, they aim for the stars. At others, they are content to curl up in a lonely subdued ball in the corner of a room. Either way, the right chords are almost always struck here.

Opening track ‘Zebra’ is an elegant beast. Building from a simple guitar riff, the song soon takes off with the breathy, anguished backing vocals forming a poignant vision. Most of the songs are built around keyboards and synths with Scally’s inventive yet simple guitar work adding another intriguing layer to proceedings. ‘Walk In The Park’ features an Angelo Badalamenti Twin-Peaks-theme-inspired solemn guitar sound that, when met with the bouncy upbeat keyboard chords, is irresistible. As is the entire track; certainly one of the catchiest here. It’s a bit like classic Fleetwood Mac had it been performed by Air. The same could be said for the excellent ‘Better Times’ where this combination works to great effect once again.

Lyrically, we find Legrand performing many a solitary bedroom soliloquy. Sometimes she is lonely and rejected but there is also some giddy love-smitten crooning. The atmospheric synth-charged ‘10 Mile Stereo’ sees Legrand in philosophical mood. “They said we would go far, but they don’t know how far we’d go”, she sings, “cause this heart is a stone, and this is a stone we throw”. On ‘Used To Be’, Legrand attempts to put the pieces of a broken relationship together. “Even if I tried so hard/Would we still be coming to an end?” she asks on the song full of realization and regret. ‘Silver Soul’ is an essential listen. “Gather medicine for heartache/So we can act a fool”, declares Legrand, perhaps deciding that chemical abuse is the best way to appease the torments of the heart. You get the sense of some kind of fatalism as the song fades out with Legrand repeatedly singing “It has happened again.” Eerie yet soothing, it’s the Beach Boys in dire need of prozac.

Upon first listen, it’s clear that Teen Dream is a fine album. After the sixth or seventh listen, it borders on greatness. On the surface, each of the songs are instantly listenable but given time there is much more to unravel as the interchangeable moods and sounds reveal greater depth. There is plenty more music to be released and discovered yet this year. 11 months worth to be exact so let’s not get too carried away just yet. But come December, don’t be surprised to see Teen Dream somewhere near the top of year-end lists. It really is that good.

Matthew James

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