Beach House

Review: Beach House’s Bloom

Beach House: Bloom

Beach House: Bloom (Sup Pop, 5/15/12)

“Myth”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Beach_House_Myth.mp3|titles=Beach House: “Myth”]

Two years ago, Baltimore-based dream-pop duo Beach House released its best effort to date with Teen Dream. The album took the band’s gift for crafting atmospheric, melancholic synth pop to an entirely new level. The band’s writing was tighter, cleaner. The songs themselves were suffused with nostalgia and heartbreak. It took the band’s signature style — droning organs, echoing guitars, digitized beats, and gorgeous vocals and lyrics — and refined them to the point where a successful followup seemed unlikely.