Back in 2006, I was sleeping in what little darkness the enormous windows of my Bushwick loft allowed. A full moon hung over the gravel pit or "rock factory" we joked, outside. I was tucked in, headphones on, listening to glowing, down-tempo keyboard pop from Baltimore. It was Beach House's first album and the sun was going to rise like a blazing ball of fire in a few hours. If I was being honest, I wasn't particularly happy.
Of course it's 2009 and I've switched neighborhoods but Beach House, still very much the same, is back with a record to level us in similar fashion. Teen Dream, due out in late January 2010 is going to be this coming year's Veckatimest; the album people saw coming but didn't realize they would like so much until it was actually in their stereo. Frankly, the honest-to-goodness of this album isn't a surprise, but how good and how dense and how rich is shocking.
The melodies and the narrative come through immediately. The keyboard-rich, almost sea-sick first single, "Norway," isn't the best song on the album but its humming, glowing chorus is the crystalline picture of what makes this record and this band so powerful. The verses, a settled and woozy affair, make me think of 2006 and 2009 and 2010 and where the hell we might be in three years. The moon is up over the east coast and our time is short. Keep that in mind.
Listen :: Beach House - "Norway"
2 comments:
2006...what a disaster...
roger,
were you listening to mixtapes made by your college girlfriend and driving around in a cherry red minivan waiting for death? i'm just speculating.
slash.
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