- Beach House are back with a new album, Depression Cherry, out August 28 via Sub Pop in North America, Bella Union in Europe, and Mistletone in Australia/New Zealand. The follow-up to 2012's Bloom was recorded and produced by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally with Chris Coady at Bogalusa, Louisiana's Studio in the Country.
- So, with that thought in mind, Beach House's latest effort, Depression Cherry, is one of the year's best albums. It's stunning, seductive, layered, and completely entrancing. From the opening notes and lyrics ('You should see there's a place I want to take you.
So, with that thought in mind, Beach House's latest effort, Depression Cherry, is one of the year's best albums. It's stunning, seductive, layered, and completely entrancing. From the opening notes and lyrics ('You should see there's a place I want to take you. Get the new Beach House album, Depression Cherry, right now as a cost-free music download, listen free-of-charge right now. You can unrar or perhaps unzip the file on your pc or device and enjoy the music on any unit, be it your PC, Mac, ipod touch, iPhone, Android phone or everything else. Depression Cherry, the newest album by Baltimore duo Beach House, somehow falls into both of these categories. The band holds onto their characteristically minimalist and ethereal sound while trying some new things out, but as anyone who has went through puberty can tell you, transitioning from one thing to another can lead to some awkward moments.
by Kevin Zampieron | published Sep. 7th, 2015
3.5/5
Artistic progression in music can be tricky, especially with established acts. There's an artist like David Bowie, who deftly moved from style to style while keeping his essence as a performer and a songwriter intact. Then there's bands like AC/DC, who keep a single style and audience while rarely significantly altering their sound. Depression Cherry, the newest album by Baltimore duo Beach House, somehow falls into both of these categories. The band holds onto their characteristically minimalist and ethereal sound while trying some new things out, but as anyone who has went through puberty can tell you, transitioning from one thing to another can lead to some awkward moments.
Beach House Depression Cherry Rar 10
Consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally, Beach House have been recording for almost a decade now. Although every one of their previous albums have been met with a significant amount of critical praise, their characteristically lush and melodic sound has become almost too obvious; with each release, the band seems to be in danger of becoming redundant. Depression Cherry comes at a point in Beach House's career where a musical evolution would be welcome.
Some tracks move the band's sound forward beautifully. 'Sparks,' the lead single for Depression Cherry, is a very bold change from the band's usual output. Ethereal synths with distant clear guitar melodies are replaced with discordant organ blares and distorted slide guitar. The song's rhythms are at odds with one another; the drum machine pounds and the vocal loop repeats almost independent of the rest of the song. While all of these elements don't sound like they would work on paper, everything comes together like gears in a finely made clock. What should be an aural mess goes together perfectly in a stroke of compositional genius.
In the complete other direction, the final track 'Days of Candy' opens with a stunningly beautiful choral arrangement. For a band with such a simple sound, an arrangement this lush is surprising and unexpected. So unexpected, in fact, that I had to sit down the first time I heard it. Despite it having never appeared in any previous track, the church-like chorus is something that meshes wonderfully with Beach House's sound and is a welcome innovation.
Beach House Depression Cherry Rar
Standout moments like those, however, only highlight the album's relative shortcomings. In a press release for the album, Beach House expressed a desire for a 'return to simplicity.' While returning to one's roots isn't inherently regressive, it can seem that way when juxtaposed with tracks that are comparably more experimental.
There are clear moments or elements of novelty in almost every track, but they're surrounded by disappointingly conventional songwriting. Especially in these tracks, Depression Cherry feels like a bowl of oatmeal: hearty and satisfying, but at the same time dense and bland. While this isn't terrible, it is disappointing when considering the innovation on the song 'Sparks' or the band's previous work.
Tracks like 'Space Song' or 'PPP' aren't unpleasant to listen to, but they seem like half baked imitations of the band's previous work. The songs seem safe, with none of the strength in songwriting that the band's previous albums had. This is especially present in the track '10:37'; with such bare instrumentation, it's so uninspired it feels more like a demo for a song than a finished track.
This bland safety extends to more than just the songwriting. Legrand's vocals on previous albums were a gorgeous mix of raspy and elegant, giving her lyrics just that much more weight and believability. On Depression Cherry, she attempts a more ethereal approach, singing in a vocally overdubbed higher register. While before her voice was the aspect of song the listener could emotionally latch onto, on this album her voice becomes just another sound. A pleasant and harmonious one, but just a sound nonetheless.
When a caterpillar makes its transformation to a butterfly, it turns into viscous goo so it can restructure at a cellular level and reach its beautiful final form. Depression Cherry very well might be the caterpillar-goo stage of Beach House's creative arc; the album has moments that are brilliant and impeccably executed. It's also possible that this album is more closer to a bowl of oatmeal, a satisfying but ultimately safe creative endeavor by artists who can and have done better. Regardless of where it takes Beach House, Depression Cherry is a solid effort and worth a listen, especially in regards to some of the album's standout tracks. Unfortunately it falls short, albeit inoffensively, of the band's tremendous previous work.
We can only hope Beach House emerges from their creative cocoon as a magnificent butterfly, and not a slightly older bowl of oatmeal.
For fans of: Wild Nothing, Grizzly Bear, Mazzy Star
It's been three years since Beach House released their 2012 album Bloom, and so when Depression Cherry was announced, it caused quite a stir. Time has passed, and it's not hard to tell that there is an air of complexity to that familiar sound as you start the journey on the opening tracks, building off of the familiar, and quite successful, immersive ambiance that Beach House has been known to put out, time after time. That ambiance is still there, and the lyrical themes entrance you the listener, into that immediate trace that I know you've been dying for(, and maybe searched for in Washed Out or Grizzly Bear in recent years, but could never quite seem to find). The first line of Levitation is exactly that:
You and me with our long hair on the gold wall
After midnight we could feel it all
I'd go anywhere you want to
Binding together that immersive organ synth with Victoria Legrand's hypnotizing voice, Depression Cherry at first listen seems to be exactly what Beach House fans have been waiting for, and could have been released just after Bloom. And yet, as you start to float through the album, (and trust me, you'll find yourself drifting from one track to the next seamlessly and effortlessly) you'll start to notice those cadences that the mid 2010's has started to be known for. Sparks and Beyond Love are exactly this sort of updated Beach House that makes you look at your Casio wristwatch and say aloud to yourself, 'huh, I guess it has been three years.', and then immediately fall back into that autumn toes-in-the-sand reverie you just realised you were in.
by Kevin Zampieron | published Sep. 7th, 2015
3.5/5
Artistic progression in music can be tricky, especially with established acts. There's an artist like David Bowie, who deftly moved from style to style while keeping his essence as a performer and a songwriter intact. Then there's bands like AC/DC, who keep a single style and audience while rarely significantly altering their sound. Depression Cherry, the newest album by Baltimore duo Beach House, somehow falls into both of these categories. The band holds onto their characteristically minimalist and ethereal sound while trying some new things out, but as anyone who has went through puberty can tell you, transitioning from one thing to another can lead to some awkward moments.
Beach House Depression Cherry Rar 10
Consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally, Beach House have been recording for almost a decade now. Although every one of their previous albums have been met with a significant amount of critical praise, their characteristically lush and melodic sound has become almost too obvious; with each release, the band seems to be in danger of becoming redundant. Depression Cherry comes at a point in Beach House's career where a musical evolution would be welcome.
Some tracks move the band's sound forward beautifully. 'Sparks,' the lead single for Depression Cherry, is a very bold change from the band's usual output. Ethereal synths with distant clear guitar melodies are replaced with discordant organ blares and distorted slide guitar. The song's rhythms are at odds with one another; the drum machine pounds and the vocal loop repeats almost independent of the rest of the song. While all of these elements don't sound like they would work on paper, everything comes together like gears in a finely made clock. What should be an aural mess goes together perfectly in a stroke of compositional genius.
In the complete other direction, the final track 'Days of Candy' opens with a stunningly beautiful choral arrangement. For a band with such a simple sound, an arrangement this lush is surprising and unexpected. So unexpected, in fact, that I had to sit down the first time I heard it. Despite it having never appeared in any previous track, the church-like chorus is something that meshes wonderfully with Beach House's sound and is a welcome innovation.
Beach House Depression Cherry Rar
Standout moments like those, however, only highlight the album's relative shortcomings. In a press release for the album, Beach House expressed a desire for a 'return to simplicity.' While returning to one's roots isn't inherently regressive, it can seem that way when juxtaposed with tracks that are comparably more experimental.
There are clear moments or elements of novelty in almost every track, but they're surrounded by disappointingly conventional songwriting. Especially in these tracks, Depression Cherry feels like a bowl of oatmeal: hearty and satisfying, but at the same time dense and bland. While this isn't terrible, it is disappointing when considering the innovation on the song 'Sparks' or the band's previous work.
Tracks like 'Space Song' or 'PPP' aren't unpleasant to listen to, but they seem like half baked imitations of the band's previous work. The songs seem safe, with none of the strength in songwriting that the band's previous albums had. This is especially present in the track '10:37'; with such bare instrumentation, it's so uninspired it feels more like a demo for a song than a finished track.
This bland safety extends to more than just the songwriting. Legrand's vocals on previous albums were a gorgeous mix of raspy and elegant, giving her lyrics just that much more weight and believability. On Depression Cherry, she attempts a more ethereal approach, singing in a vocally overdubbed higher register. While before her voice was the aspect of song the listener could emotionally latch onto, on this album her voice becomes just another sound. A pleasant and harmonious one, but just a sound nonetheless.
When a caterpillar makes its transformation to a butterfly, it turns into viscous goo so it can restructure at a cellular level and reach its beautiful final form. Depression Cherry very well might be the caterpillar-goo stage of Beach House's creative arc; the album has moments that are brilliant and impeccably executed. It's also possible that this album is more closer to a bowl of oatmeal, a satisfying but ultimately safe creative endeavor by artists who can and have done better. Regardless of where it takes Beach House, Depression Cherry is a solid effort and worth a listen, especially in regards to some of the album's standout tracks. Unfortunately it falls short, albeit inoffensively, of the band's tremendous previous work.
We can only hope Beach House emerges from their creative cocoon as a magnificent butterfly, and not a slightly older bowl of oatmeal.
For fans of: Wild Nothing, Grizzly Bear, Mazzy Star
It's been three years since Beach House released their 2012 album Bloom, and so when Depression Cherry was announced, it caused quite a stir. Time has passed, and it's not hard to tell that there is an air of complexity to that familiar sound as you start the journey on the opening tracks, building off of the familiar, and quite successful, immersive ambiance that Beach House has been known to put out, time after time. That ambiance is still there, and the lyrical themes entrance you the listener, into that immediate trace that I know you've been dying for(, and maybe searched for in Washed Out or Grizzly Bear in recent years, but could never quite seem to find). The first line of Levitation is exactly that:
You and me with our long hair on the gold wall
After midnight we could feel it all
I'd go anywhere you want to
Binding together that immersive organ synth with Victoria Legrand's hypnotizing voice, Depression Cherry at first listen seems to be exactly what Beach House fans have been waiting for, and could have been released just after Bloom. And yet, as you start to float through the album, (and trust me, you'll find yourself drifting from one track to the next seamlessly and effortlessly) you'll start to notice those cadences that the mid 2010's has started to be known for. Sparks and Beyond Love are exactly this sort of updated Beach House that makes you look at your Casio wristwatch and say aloud to yourself, 'huh, I guess it has been three years.', and then immediately fall back into that autumn toes-in-the-sand reverie you just realised you were in.
Their track, 10:37, captures this lyrical development as an axiom of realisation, beginning with the lines:
Chances are like night disappeared
Caught in the atmosphere
Where you go, she casts no shadow
Still you know she's near
Alex Scally and Legrand have been known in the past to write potentially perplexingly vague lyrics, and in a recent interview opened up about this, especially in the case of 10:37, commenting:
'How do you describe that in language without sounding completely abstract and out-of-your-mind?' Legrand asks. Johnny bravo episode 1 in hindi. 'That's how most moments of creativity feel—you almost can't not use far-out language.'
That being said, the entirety of the album is a wonderful conglomeration of the daydream induced by previous Beach House efforts and an updated and more developed lyrical and musical premise Scally and Legrand seem to be ever working towards. With the announcement of Thank Your Lucky Stars, set to drop next week, it seems ever clear that Depression Cherry has the potential to be the crossroads between a new and old sound. Through and through, Depression Cherry has that air of mysticism that we've all been missing in recent music, and like its predecessors, has the feeling of unlimited replay potential. Notable tracks include Sparks, 10:37, PPP, and Days of Candy, but honestly the entire album is worth your time to listen to, and with another album coming this month, Beach House has definitely made it clear that they are a dream that you want to be having in 2015.
8/10
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