Beach House, Teen Dream
Featured Album
Woozy, delicious dream-pop songs that unfurl deliberately and cinematically
In the summer of 2010, Katy Perry revealed her vision of a Teenage Dream: top-down drives in convertibles, cotton-candy clouds, and perky, sexed-up pop. Baltimore duo Beach House unveiled their version of the Teen Dream first, though: 10 woozy, delicious dream-pop songs that unfurl deliberately and cinematically.
On the group's third disc, Victoria Legrand's enchanting vocals glide lazily over her retro organ pumps and Alex Scally's trickling guitars, creating a moody landscape that recalls the flickering nostalgia of 16mm home movies. Teen Dream wraps the band's swelling atmospherics around some of the most stirring melodies they've ever written. "Silver Soul" is a groovy surf song that operates at half-speed, and "Real Love" strips Beach House down to '70s singer/songwriter simplicity: just a gentle piano and a richly belted vocal. The organ key slips from major to minor on "Lover of Mine," pumping away behind a bewitching tune with a performance by Legrand that recalls the haunting vocals of Stevie Nicks. And on standout "10 Mile Stereo," Legrand's hazy upper register brushes against a swirl of psychedelia as she sings about passing time and the pull of true love: "Limbs parallel, we stood so long we fell/ Love's like a pantheon, it carries on forever." It's a dreamy sentiment for sure, if not exactly a real teenager's dream.
