The first time I listened to Beach House should be in 2014 when their song ‘Take Care’ from the album ‘Teen Dream’ (2010) is the background music of the trailer for the movie ‘Blue Is the Warmest Color (2014). That movie had a great selection on the OST that I thought the song was purely originally made. It just so well fitted with the scenes of the film. I was a sixteen-year-old and that was not long after I started listening to some foreign English songs, so the song feels quite strange to me, yet I was attracted to them — no matter their melody or the voice of the lead singer.
I forgot how I solved the puzzle that belongs to Beach House, the band I finally formally knew probably because I was recommended to the song ‘Blue Bird’ from the album ‘Depression Cherry’ (2015) by my favorite singer in 2018. Once again, I was so overwhelmed by the charm of their music, so I finally began listening to their previous works (as I remember, at that time ‘Myth’ and ‘Space Song’ were quite popular too). Luckily, in the same year, they released their last album ‘7’, then I fell in love with it, too.
They always write the most comforting melody. Perhaps they never want to leave a “bad ending” in their songs and instead, they glorify and romanticize them at their best. In Chinese, they have a lovely nickname translated as “沙灘小屋”, which means “the little beach cabin”. Their lyrics were quite abstract that sometimes you might not know what exactly they’re telling, they’re not singing their personal life stories or experiences straight, but they seem to express a particular kind of feeling or depict a portrait of some scene. It could be a running zebra or imagining you’re walking the park. In streams of consciousness, the lead singer Victoria sings beautifully and artistically. Yes, her voice was not that clear when she sings, yet highly recognizable and unique (sometimes I wonder what her voice in real would be like). She creates a sense of mystery and fantasy. You won’t feel she ever revealed or emphasized their feeling, but what’s left is your imaginary scenes in your head created through their restrained music. The most common tag for the band is dream pop/psychedelic music. And I think this is the greatest point of the band. They let you dream interminably, make your dreams flow wildly, and sometimes they sing to the deepest place of your heart, too.
In their newest four-thirds released album ‘Once Twice Melody’, the imaginary dreams fly highest ever. I can’t really match it to any similarities with their previous albums, it’s just special enough and possesses its own characteristics, like their every album does. Like what Apple Music introduces it:
Like AC/DC before them, Beach House’s gift lies in managing to make what feels like the same album a hundred different ways. Even the new inflections on Once Twice Melody — the string section of “ESP”, the rhythmic nods to hip-hop (“Pink Funeral”) and Italo-disco (“Runaway”) — fit immediately into their plush, neon-lit world. And while specific moments conjure specific eras (“Superstar” the triumph of an ’80s John Hughes movie, “Once Twice Melody” a swirl of ’60s surrealism), the cumulative effect is something like a fairytale rendered in sound: majestic, inviting, but dark enough around the edges to keep you off-balance. And just like that (snap), they do it again.
The beginning song, which is entitled the same as the album name, if you have watched its music video, you probably won’t forget every scene of it, it’s been made of nostalgic yet delicate frames of animation, portraying a girl beside the river, and how the passing of time reflected on her. And another greatest characteristic of Beach House is that their music can be incredibly gentle enough to touch you. When I listened to ‘ESP’ for the first time, its melody magically moved me to want to cry even though I didn’t pay attention to its lyrics. ‘What makes someone a stranger? Is it someplace you won’t go? Somewhere you could get faded? Someway to keep you close?’. I like every song of the album for now, and this is a bit more special one that relieves me as always. Lastly, the third chapter released four days ago just astonished me to make me want to write this small article. And I can’t wait for the last chapter of the album to be released.
Sometimes you could feel a subtle sadness/darkness inside their song as well, but they’ll pick you up safely like a good old friend anyway. After all, it’s the most sincere Beach House, and you can trust them as always. I’m grateful they’re putting another honest work into the world this year, and it already became one of my best albums of 2022.