Beach House Devotion CD

Personnel: Victoria Legrand (vocals, organ, keyboards); Alex Scally (guitar, organ, drums).
Audio Mixer: Adam Cook.
Recording information: Lord Baltimore Recording (08/2007-09/2007).
Photographer: Natasha Tyler.
Beach House is the musical duo of instrumentalist Alex Scally and vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand. And as their namesake suggests, their music resonates with the kind of languid radiance of a spiritual retreat from the modern world. Building their signature sound from a few spare elements, lo-fi organs, harpsichords, and vintage drum machines, the pair crafts an exquisitely detailed atmosphere from minimal instrumentation. Legrand's hypnotic croon sits pleasingly against Scally's twanging pedal steel lines, suggesting a country-tinged Nico. On "Turtle Island," the dirge-like drone of a harmonium offers a hauntingly baroque accompaniment to Legrand's tale of heartbreak. But somber and downcast is not the only mood on offer: "Some Things Last (A Long Time)" is their version of a Daniel Johnston chestnut, while "D.A.R.L.I.N.G." offers their otherworldly take on `60s girl-group pop.
With Devotion, Beach House prove once again that they're one of the more strangely named bands around. Their music is so lonely, so haunting, that the only beach house it evokes is a deserted one, stranded on a winter night so desolate that summer isn't even a memory. Then again, that atmosphere is precisely what made Beach House's self-titled debut so striking, and Devotion is even more so, since Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally bring more focus, depth, and warmth to their unmistakable sound. Tracks like "Gila" and "Turtle Island" show that all the pair need to build a mood are their vintage-sounding drum machines, keyboards, and layers of Legrand's womanly, velvety voice, but Beach House spend just as much time expanding their horizons as they do delivering their definitive sound. Devotion begins with "Wedding Bells," which, with its fuzzed-out guitar, keyboard filigrees, harpsichords, and pedal steel, is one of the duo's most elaborate songs yet. It's also one of Beach House's most immediate, fully formed songs, something that this album has far more of than the band's debut. "You Came to Me" is a stunner, melding dark chamber pop ambience with lyrics that feel like they came from a surreal '70s AM radio hit. "Heart of Chambers" is downright soulful, with Legrand's keening voice and swelling organs giving it a truly devotional cast. Not surprisingly, given the album's title, Devotion's songs deal with love and loyalty, or the lack thereof: "Some Things Last (A Long Time)" is an aptly torchy, country-tinged ballad about carrying a torch for someone; "Astronaut" pines for a crush to be requited, filtering the innocence and drama of girl group pop through the band's gauzy approach. "Home Again" is just as sweet -- but not nearly as reassuring -- as its title suggests, setting lyrics like "Something about the way a heart is nailed above a hand" to finger snaps and a melody with a wintry sparkle. Like Beach House, Devotion sounds like it was made for, and possibly in, the dead of night. This time, though, Beach House's dark moods have more shades, and even a little bit of light, making them all the more compelling. ~ Heather PharesRolling Stone (p.59) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "This is music as secret hideaway, all come-hither vocals, fuzzy organ riffs, liquid slide guitar and muffled drum beats riding swells of reverb onto soft white sands."
Spin (p.97) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "On DEVOTION, slow-motion organ washes over precisely twanged guitar while Legrand slides sensuously accented phonemes through the hazy mix."
Entertainment Weekly (p.59) - "The lo-fi arrangements on their second full-length -- a faint organ riff here, a distant chime there, a mournful chant floating above it all -- smartly tease the border between 'pretty' and 'eerie'..." -- Grade: B
Uncut (p.83) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "If you like Galaxie 500, Mazzy Star, Low -- that's to say, starcrossed boy-girl balladry refracted through a narcotic haze and reverb -- you'll adore them."
CMJ - "Beach House offers enough warmly reverberating organs, feline, female vocals and drowsy melodies to provide an ample score to any chill-out tent."
Q (Magazine) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Everything is dreamily understated: Legrand quietly intones as her organ conjures up a ghostly calm..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] shape-shifting backgrounds -- classic '60s pop arrangements filtered through the fuzzy prism of a dream."
Clash (magazine) (p.110) - "Beach House excel, effortlessly drawing you into their world. Legrand creates a multi-tracked choir around the clarity of her lead vocal while Scally skillfully populates the songs with supporting instruments."
The Word (magazine) (p.100) - "This duo have been placed in a US lineage that's at once intimate and of fathomless, reverberant depth -- Low, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500. Backed by Alex Scally's guitar, Paris-born singer Victoria Legrand can live up to this..."
URB (Magazine) (p.108) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's as rewarding as it is tantalizing....They've managed to wholeheartedly blossom their sound while remaining right where they left off."