Depression Cherry

AlbumAug 28 / 20159 songs, 44m 49s99%
Dream Pop
Popular Highly Rated

On their fifth album, Beach House don\'t veer too far from their template: beautifully spare, sun-bleached ditties that belie their often-dreary subject matter. Sure, there’s a blown-out guitar here (the pleasantly noisy “Sparks”), or a breathy spoken word there (“PPP,” replete with Cocteau Twins-style guitar), but the duo\'s MO remains: “If it ain’t broke . . .” The creeping organ tones and Victoria Legrand\'s gauzy croon are so luxuriant, you almost forget that these are still sad songs—and it’s in that balance of light and dark that they reliably stick the landing.

*Customers outside of North America, please try Bella Union in Europe/UK or Mistletone Records in Australia/NZ. Thanks! Beach House is Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally. We have been a band for over a decade living and working in Baltimore, MD. Depression Cherry is our 5th full-length record and was recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana from November ’14 through January ’15. This time period crossed the anniversaries of both John Lennon’s and Roy Orbison’s death. In general, this record shows a return to simplicity, with songs structured around a melody and a few instruments, with live drums playing a far lesser role. With the growing success of Teen Dream and Bloom, the larger stages and bigger rooms naturally drove us towards a louder, more aggressive place; a place farther from our natural tendencies. Here, we continue to let ourselves evolve while fully ignoring the commercial context in which we exist.

8.4 / 10

Beach House's newest album, Depression Cherry, might have the silliest, or at least the most inexplicable, title in their catalog, but in every other sense it’s another impeccably measured step forward. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have grown so adept at spinning dreams that they can turn all the lights on the set and still dazzle us.

A-

It can be difficult to focus on the subtleties within a Beach House album—and that’s not really a dig. The Baltimore duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally is so delicate and cryptic in the weaving of its dream-pop tracks that even straightforward key changes float by unnoticed, like the dried seeds of a dandelion in…

6 / 10

8 / 10

The Baltimore duo’s latest is a wonderful concoction that sees optimism in the midst of sorrow.

Not our words but those of jazz colossus Charles Mingus, which ring especially true in the case of Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House.

7.7 / 10

It's only been three years since Beach House last released an album, but music changes so quickly that it seems like the Baltimore duo had been gone for ages. At any rate, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally are back now with their fifth full-length album, a collection of nine songs that are more intimate than the music on their past few records.

Check out our album review of Artist's Depression Cherry on Rolling Stone.com.

An odd outlier in an otherwise brilliant back-catalogue.

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Beach House’s fifth album shows the Baltimore duo turning back the clock with a minimalist collection of songs that meditate on transience and loss.

9 / 10

The usual criticism with Baltimore duo Beach House is that their sleepy dream pop doesn't exactly grab you by the throat, that album after a...

7.5 / 10

Oh, the burden of expectations. After a promising self-titled debut, and then two consecutive knockouts in 2010's Teen Dream and 2012's Bloom (which must go on the shortlist of most beautiful albums of the 21st century), one could forgive Beach House a cl

8 / 10

Anyone with a passing knowledge of Beach House knows that the band is the audio equivalent of slipping into a warm bath of your lover’s tears whilst

The Baltimore duo still do a convincing line in sunshine-after-rain moods

Between an arresting start and a lavish finish, Beach House’s latest loses steam.

6 / 10

Photo: Shawn.

8.0 / 10

Review of the upcoming Beach House album, 'Depression Cherry', whcih will be out on August 28th via Sub Pop Records, Bella Union, and Mistletone Records.

It may lack the big pop moments of previous albums, but the pared-down sounds, subtle chord shifts and whispered vocals add a greater resonance

80 %

Living up to the placidity and comfort of their very name, Beach House has never had to stretch themselves too much.

Album Reviews: Beach House - Depression Cherry

4.1 / 5

Beach House - Depression Cherry review: We all float down here.

Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House bridled when a Rolling Stone reporter suggested they were getting "heavy" earlier this month.

Bella Union, 4 stars

Exquisite enervation on Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally’s fifth album. Review by Kieron Tyler

8 / 10