This is music that lingers in the mind and seeps into the bones. And while you can view it as melancholic, Scally and Legrand never dwell on sentimentality or allow anything to sink into despondency.
With their slow-tempo songs and Victoria Legrand's mournful vocals, Beach House are regarded - even by those who love them - as a bummer. But if their fifth album, Depression Cherry, has a singular feeling, it's one of "uplift".
Anyone who doesn't fall for Depression Cherry's hypnotic splendour probably just isn't a Beach House fan, or didn't live with the album long enough. But those who do will recognize this album as the sweeping, grand gesture they've been working up to giving us for the last nine years.
Depression Cherry is a beautiful record about darker times being a point in a journey, not the final destination. It shows its creators have a level of wisdom beyond their years.
Depression Cherry is a startlingly easy record to get lost in. Some have called this a detriment, causing the record to blur together, to which I say: isn’t that the point?
Almost a decade into their career, Beach House have never departed from their initial sound but have also never rested on their laurels, and with Depression Cherry they betray not only flashes of musical maturity but a deeper outlook on life as well.
Rather than hoping for Beach House to make a bold step forward, it’s best just to appreciate the duo for what it is: an unadventurous band that has perfected a specific brand of hazy, serene dream pop and has no interest in changing.
It's a grower that demands and rewards close listening -- especially under headphones, where it unfolds like a spell cast just for the listener.
Baltimore dream pop two-piece Beach House refine their sound by paring back to the essentials: strong, foregrounded melodies beautifully sung by Victoria Legrand floating over Alex Scally's billowy cloud-bed of guitar reverb, an undisruptive backbeat and synthetic pulses.
On the whole, Depression Cherry pulls off the rare trick of stripping the duo’s sound back and embracing simplicity, while actually sounding more sophisticated and accomplished than their previous work.
By reducing the scope and rediscovering the value of nuance, Beach House end up sounding bigger and better than ever before.
It lacks the bigger pop moments of their last two albums, Bloom and Teen Dream, yet by paring down the drums and allowing themselves to play more quietly, the Baltimore duo somehow increase their impressive ability to sound like they’re whispering each song directly into your eardrum.
The whole fuzzy, sepia synth-drenched thing sits between melancholic and sugary.
It’s an approach they’ve taken time and again, but Depression Cherry’s particular non-specifics feel as full of breath and life as anything they’ve ever done — an album-length sigh as eloquent as a manifesto.
Like the band’s 2008 album Devotion, Depression Cherry is an impressive showcase of the kind of beauty that two musicians are capable of when stripped down to a bare-bones approach. It’s worked before, and it works again here.
Depression Cherry doesn’t always have the emotional heft, or melodic impact, of their 2010 breakthrough Teen Dream or its follow-up, 2012’s Bloom, but the duo’s knack for crafting thoughtful, enveloping songs makes their return more than welcome.
Minor sonic updates don’t entirely compensate for the lack of deep cuts, but it’s hard to fault Depression Cherry for playing to Beach House’s well-established strengths.
The band shows growth, though not all of it positive, while expanding on their signature sound.
The Baltimore duo's fifth album sticks to that signature sound, and go figure: A formula that might seem limiting feels instead like it can contain entire worlds.
Minor nitpicking aside, this is a Beach House record that sounds, above all else, like a Beach House record.
With Depression Cherry, Beach House have pulled off what ought to be an impossible tautology – bringing directness to the avowedly diffuse.
Some minor, targeted deviation from the formula would have pushed Depression Cherry to an unprecedented level of novelty for the band, but as it stands, the record falls into a creeping, achromatic daze far more ambitious than it is visionary.
If Depression Cherry sounds as though they are stuck in a groove, well, they are. But it is a groove worth wallowing in.
Between an arresting start and a lavish finish, the album loses steam. Billed as a back-to-the-basics approach, Depression Cherry is often languid and shapeless, its songwriting lacking the passionate force of 2012's breathtaking Bloom.
The problem here is that ambition is villainized, when in reality getting out of their comfort zone is exactly what has allowed Beach House to surpass their bedroom pop beginnings and exceed anyone’s expectations. In returning to the familiar, Depression Cherry feels uninspired.
At its heart, ‘Depression Cherry' is an album about the wonder of true happiness, with space, or the infinite used as a metaphor for love ... But it’s difficult to share the singer's awe when the musical backdrop sounds so tired.
What the hell, the first time I listened to this (like 1 year ago) I didn't enjoy it :0000
Edit: JuSt LiKe AlMoSt EvErYtHiNg I lIkE nOw
Depression Cherry is not an album that does anything new for it's genre but it's such an immersive experience. I don't want to analyze this album too much, it's not really an album to
analyze, it's an album to fall in love with.
I haven't felt peace of mind for a long long time. For a while, my head has been feeling grey, full of useless thoughts and stupid ideas. As soon as I pressed play on this album, as soon as I layed down in my bead, as soon as I closed my eyes, my mind cleared. And I ... read more
Yep- I've thought about this a lot and I'm happy with this score.
I saw Beach House last night and it was so fun! As I've been listening to their discography, I've decided this is my favorite album of theirs, which I was pretty surprised by. I just always thought Teen Dream, Bloom, and 7 were their best records. And while I love those albums, I think this one is their most consistent album, with every song adding a lot to the experience of the record. This album is catchy, it's emotionally ... read more
Individually, most of the tracks don't stand out but as a collection the album really sucks one into this trance dream like state that just engulfs and envelopes one into the soundscape. Overall I feel Depression Cherry is an essential in the dream pop genre
Favorite tracks: Space song, PPP, Levitation
Least favorite: Bluebird (the tapping in the background feels a little out of place)
1 | Levitation 5:54 | 91 |
2 | Sparks 5:21 | 88 |
3 | Space Song 5:20 | 97 |
4 | Beyond Love 4:25 | 87 |
5 | 10:37 3:48 | 82 |
6 | PPP 6:08 | 91 |
7 | Wildflower 3:39 | 88 |
8 | Bluebird 3:55 | 84 |
9 | Days of Candy 6:15 | 88 |
#8 | / | Under the Radar |
#9 | / | Blare |
#9 | / | Diffuser |
#16 | / | SPIN |
#19 | / | No Ripcord |
#19 | / | Paste |
#19 | / | Sputnikmusic |
#22 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#24 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#28 | / | Gigwise |