![]() ![]() Extending Legrand’s wistfully looped vocals over a driving 4/4 beat, “Only You Know” approximates the muted ecstasy of the Field’s 2007 melodic techno classic “ Over the Ice.” The instrumental breakdown of the closing “Modern Love Stories” recalls the strummy acoustic grandeur of David Bowie’s “Five Years.” “Another Go Around,” lilting and luminous, could be mistaken for an Elliott Smith cover. The stately “New Romance” boasts one of the sugariest hooks of the band’s catalog, with an irresistible (and meme-ready) chorus to match: “Last night I’m messing up/Now I feel like dressing up/ILYSFM.” The spangled “Over and Over” is slow and radiant, a Moroder-influenced power ballad whose celestial choirs boast megachurch wattage.Īlong the way, they pull out some surprising references. Driven by chugging electric guitars and a hint of the Cocteau Twins’ chiming leads, “Superstar” is a feast of texture set to heartstring-tugging chord changes. Their supersized instincts often serve them well. (Guest drummer James Barone’s controlled wallop goes a long way toward establishing the record’s blockbuster footprint.) Where once they sounded indebted to bands like Mazzy Star or My Bloody Valentine, here they’re chasing a shiny brass ring bearing the fingerprints of Air, M83, even Tame Impala. In their soaring choruses and sumptuous arrays of synths, guitars, and percussion, they have taken on the proportions of spectacular, stadium-sized alt pop. ![]() There are feathery acoustic guitars and rosy vocoders, watery analog synths and chord changes that explode like fireworks against the night sky, and all of it has been mixed to emphasize its nuanced contrasts and swollen dimensions. With 18 tracks and 84 minutes of running time, Beach House have plenty of room to try out different things, but Once Twice Melody invariably sounds phenomenal. The essence of their sound has remained the same, yet the contours have changed: They have transformed themselves from a weathered wooden boat into a gleaming, streamlined spaceship from a twentysomething’s dogeared Moleskine into something as vast and ineffable as the metaverse-a rush of pure vibes, ephemeral and enveloping. They have swapped clean-toned electric guitar for surging shoegaze fuzz, traded the thrift-store keyboards and rickety home-organ rhythm presets for hi-def synthesizers and powerhouse live drumming, while Legrand’s ambiguously imagistic lyrics have become more grandiose and diffuse. It looks identical, but can it truly be said to be the same ship? Beach House, in contrast, have steadily upgraded their materials, replacing oak with titanium and sailcloth with Kevlar. After a century’s worth of repairs, not a single original piece of the boat remains. Imagine a vessel that, over the course of many years, has had all of its parts replaced: mast, rigging, sails, hull, all the way down to the very last nail. Their evolution brings to mind the Ship of Theseus, a classic philosopher’s paradox. ![]() They have never abandoned the attributes that make them inimitably Beach House compare Once Twice Melody with a record like Devotion or Teen Dream, and it’s clearly the same band, yet profound changes have taken place. The organ-heavy Depression Cherry wrapped itself in velvety drones that bristled with dissonance 7 was darker and more muscular, tinged with a syrupy hit of shoegaze. Over the years, they have made subtle tweaks to the languid slowcore template they fashioned on their self-titled 2006 debut. From the current vantage point, Beach House’s entire career looks like one long, gradual process of transformation, a slowly winding path leading up to this point. ![]()
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