Now more than a decade into its artistic lifespan, Baltimore’s Beach House wanted a shift in approach when it came time to write songs for what would become its fifth record, Depression Cherry.
Sure, the resulting nine songs still employ the band’s signature hypnotic pull, as singer Victoria Legrand’s dreamy voice and guitarist Alex Scally’s reverberating guitar lines are as front and center as ever. But there’s a more laid-back feel than that of Beach House’s previous effort, 2012’s Bloom. That record’s often driving rhythmic thrust has been muted in favor of an even more languid approach.
“They’d be there, but they never overshadowed the story or the narrative or the colors,” Legrand said in a recent interview with Under the Radar about the decision to return to a less drum-heavy sound on Depression Cherry. “(The heavier rhythms) were always trying to be with everything. Bloom was the closest we had ever gotten to where it may have stifled certain energies. I think we weren’t interested in that for Depression Cherry.”
The most obvious case in point is “10:37,” which comes on like Portishead in slow motion, its backing rhythm seemingly stuck in molasses as Legrand sings about a woman being “caught in the atmosphere.” “PPP,” meanwhile, is a gorgeous, ethereal tune marked by unexpected spoken-word vocals — another transportive marvel in Beach House’s subtly evolving, ever-expanding songbook.
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2015.
