Baltimore-based dream pop duo, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, AKA Beach House, have just returned with their fifth album, Depression Cherry, and it’s another mesmerizing outing in parts for them. It may not be all skying enchantment right the way through, but when it does reach the pinnacle of its heights on tracks like Levitation and Sparks it’s impossible to fault.
The album was released on CD, vinyl and digital download on the 28th August 2015, and with eleven years together they’ve had a lot of time to hone what they do. However, it doesn’t all fall on the dreamy pop side of their makeup as there’s also a fair amount of alt rock propping up the foundations of the nine song strong track list.
The album starts off with the the brilliant Levitation, which is a floating haze of psych pop with shades of slo-mo Sigor Ros. It’s filled up with a kick-back sensibility with a sedately spinning organ key melody, a whispering haze of fuzz and great softened vocals from Legrand.
It’s followed up by the equally impressive Sparks, which manages to sound slightly discordant and off beat, while also being incredibly listenable. It’s got comparisons with the Broken Social Scene, bringing in distorted, fuzz-fuelled electric guitar to go alongside the tuneless organ. You can listen to the single for yourself in the audio music video at the bottom of our review, so let us know what you think in the comments block below it.
Sparks leads in to the futurologist features of Space Song, which slows things down further with some star flash synth notes, dark moon gloom and the reverberations of interstellar solitude. The dark synth tone and fuzz drenched reverb electric guitar on Beyond Love are pretty cool, but it drops off a little too quietly at times to keep you hooked throughout.
While things start of very well on Drepression Cherry, the problem is that outside of the first few tracks it fails to inspire all that much, deflating things slightly from the high potential opening. There are still the occasional hints of brilliance here and there in the remaining tracks, but they aren’t enough to match up to the album’s great beginning.
10:37 tumbles without landing, PPP makes for a decent resurgence, but the talking section feels out of place, and Wildflower has a lush guitar melody, but doesn’t quite hold your gaze. On Bluebird the album disappears from view and closing track Days Of Candy just sounds a bit too much like a sad hymn to mark the end of the record.
Depression Cherry may not keep things going as well as it starts out, but it’s still infused with a lushness that’s hard not to get behind, especially with Victoria Legrand’s light-touch vocals. It’s got a mastery of light and shade and the ability to fade into the background of relaxation only to resurface with a new interesting sound. The best tracks are in it’s first half with both Levitation and Sparks standing out the most as contenders to be added to the regular play list.
Beach House, Depression Cherry review: 3.4/5
Album tracklist:
1. Levitation
2. Sparks
3. Space Song
4. Beyond Love
5. 10:37
6. PPP
7. Wildflower
8. Bluebird
9. Days of Candy
