On their fifth album, Baltimore dream pop two-piece Beach House refine their sound by paring back to the essentials: strong, foregrounded melodies beautifully sung by Victoria Legrand floating over Alex Scally’s billowy cloud-bed of guitar reverb, an undisruptive backbeat and synthetic pulses.
The lyrics are as intimate as the sound – “Tender is the night for a broken heart / Who will dry your eyes when it falls apart,” Legrand soothingly sings on the excellent Space Song. Scally’s guitar lines regularly punch through Legrand’s organ hum, zipping vertically and chiming, as on standout Beyond Love.
It’s a downtempo album, especially its sleepier last third, but unlike its title suggests, it’s not even a little depressing. Intriguingly discordant organ fuels shoegaze-sans-noise first single Sparks, slide guitar gives the waltzing PPP major uplift (and a Hawaiian feel), and thick choral voices transport you to church on nostalgic closer Days Of Candy.
Top track: Space Song
Listen at NPR here.