Teen Dream
Beach House’s majesty reaches full flower on *Teen Dream*, the band’s third album. Fusing the layered sound of ’90s shoegaze, the passions of ’50s doo-wop, Rolling Stones-style ballads, and just a touch of lullaby, the Baltimore duo forge a style that’s beautiful but tough, mysterious but open. Against the LP’s soft-focus songs, Victoria Legrand’s voice sounds warm and husky. The overall effect is hypnotic, making for a collection that (ever so gently) demands repeated listens.
Recorded in upstate New York, in a converted church called Dreamland with producer/engineer Chris Coady (who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, and a bunch of others) Teen Dream is the third album from the Baltimore-based duo Beach House, and their Sub Pop debut. The new album gives voice to a full universe of unbridled imagination, and the manifestation of Teen Dream has been a welcomed and all-consuming obsession for Beach House the past 9-12 months. Both the CD and LP formats of Teen Dream will arrive packaged with a companion DVD featuring a video for each song on the album, each by a different director.
Teen Dream is both the most diverse and most listenable of the Baltimore band's three full-lengths, and yet it never seems like a compromise.
Beach House’s development from album to album is easy to hear, but difficult to quantify. The Baltimore duo had a winning sound out of the gate, filling its self-titled 2006 debut less with songs and more with moods—swoony dream-pop compositions prodded on by organ, surf guitar, and, of course, Victoria Legrand’s…
Far brighter than we’ve previously known Baltimore dreampop duo [a]Beach House[/a] to be, the break with the spidery, sparse sound of their first two albums affords them far fewer places to hide.
There is a buoyant, effervescent quality to 'Teen Dream', the gorgeous new record from Baltimore duo Beach House.
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Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the whisper has grown into a distant yet ever-nearing roar.
Beach House exists within a popular kind of contemporary rock music that is defined by its inoffensiveness and lack of bombast.
<p>Beach House's third album has grace and refinement – but not enough charm, says <strong>Tom Hughes</strong></p>
Teen Dream, Baltimore duo Beach House’s third album, is their first for Sub Pop; this label upgrade seems to reflect both a willingness to court a larger audience (they recently played Jimmy Fallon) and also, subtle shifts in their music.
Consistency is a double-edged sword; it secures satisfaction just as easily as it engenders diminishing returns. There are certain artists who establish a signature sound from the outset but never manage to move away from or beyond it in any meaningful way. Beach House is one of these bands, but their gimmick is such a
Beach House - Teen Dream review: There's something perpetually charming about Beach House and Teen Dream is their best release yet.
Teen Dream Bella Union ***** It’s taken Beach House three albums to finally reach the stars.