Beach House - Teen Dream

Beach House "Silver Soul" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Above is the video for the Victoria Legrand directed "Silver Soul", the second track off of Beach House's Teen Dream. The local duo's third album and Sub Pop debut drops on Tuesday, and the "Silver Soul" video premiered today.

Allie studies sound for her collegiate career at NYU, an ideal perspective for this particular record. After the jump, get Allie's take on what is likely one of the bigger albums that will come out of Baltimore this year.

From their self-titled debut in 2006 to 2008’s Devotion, Beach House has become known for their dreamy atmospherics and melancholic minimalism. Building on that base, the band has returned with Teen Dream, an album which takes their core aesthetic to a new level. Elements of their sound that were once unsettlingly murky are now clearer and bright. That being said, Beach House has still managed to maintain the warm blanket of reverb that marked their previous works.

For this album, their debut release on Sub Pop, Beach House members Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally sought the help of producer Chris Coady, who had previously worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Blonde Redhead. The three retreated to a converted church in upstate New York, appropriately named Dreamland, and began recording Teen Dream. The natural acoustics of this setting are quite audible throughout the album, which is perfectly fitting with Legrand’s throaty vocals, the unsteady organs, and Scally’s droning guitars.

Teen Dream marks a shift from insular to intimate. Benefiting from a more prominent rhythm section, Beach House’s hazy, haunting sound is more grounded and accessible than ever before. It doesn’t seem to be coincidental that the songs that best showcase this growth—“Norway”, “Used To Be”, and “10 Mile Stereo”—are those that were or will be released as singles.

While some of the songs could probably benefit from a bit of editing—the average song length is about four and a half minutes, which causes some songs to drag towards the end—the album overall flows nicely, bolstering the ambience that the band is known for. As made clear with their previous releases, Beach House isn’t afraid to grow and build—Teen Dream is no exception to the rule.

As of right now, Beach House's next Baltimore show is May 8th at 2640 Space.