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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
Bloom is a gushing collection of top tier songs that have been carefully knitted together for maximum impact, and is absolutely gorgeous and stunning.
11y
91
"Bloom" is also what these 10 songs do, each one starting with the sizzle of a lit fuse and at some fine moment exploding like a firework in slow motion.
11y
91
With Bloom, they have mastered their sultry formula.
11y
90
Every movement on Bloom extends that high silence to the length of several minutes, building within the song and into the next track to send wave after wave of eyes-closing, head-tilting, fist-clenching pinpricks.
11y
90
It's not the band's most immediate music, but the album's challenging mix of heartbroken words and aloof sounds rewards patient and repeated listening.
10y
90
This is a band that has hit its stride in a way that’s hard to articulate, and even harder to pull off effectively.
86
The aching sweetness of Bloom’s ten tracks should override any misgivings one might have about the band’s seeming lack of stylistic evolution.
11y
83
Though the pair would prefer you focus on their songwriting – and Legrand’s lyrics are beautiful – it is the overwhelming aesthetic that defines this band. Bloom is beautiful.
82
Its production value is higher, each song’s many layers are audible, and the synths sound expensive. Fortunately, the band is able to match each dollar spent on Bloom’s production with solid raw material.
11y
80
On Bloom, Beach House does what they do best and continues to pen some of the best dream pop tunes out there today.
80
Like every Beach House album, you’re best suited to bask in the abstraction that results from the usual mesh of signatory warm synths and fidgety guitar lines, rather than attempting to latch on to a lyric or a snippet of solitary sonic genius.
80
Each song is part of an overarching mood whilst carving its own identity further with each listen. This mood is one of a lucid dream, one that ensnares the listener in its own creation.
80
The musical partners (they’re not a couple) have chosen not to try to top what they achieved with Teen Dream on the new Bloom but rather to subsume their poppy tendencies beneath a unifying aural glaze.
80
This burgeoning, slow-burner, fails to match the empyreal heights of their last album, Teen Dream ... Don’t misunderstand me, Bloom is still one of the best LPs you’re going to hear in 2012, if not beyond, it’s just missing a certain something.
80
Beach House are equipped to leave the nods to shoegaze behind and embrace a far more holistic aesthetic – pop music.
11y
80
Despite the album title, the duo picks right up where it left off on 2010's Teen Dream.
11y
80
The impact of Bloom lingers long after Scally’s last guitar moan and Legrand’s last breathy sigh, making you want to cue it up all over again and wallow anew in Beach House’s existential abyss.
80
It’s an album that’s sure to satisfy long-time fans while undoubtedly garnering the band even more media buzz.
11y
80
Bloom is a gorgeous, firm album with very little at stake.
11y
70
The melodies, guitarscapes and thrift-shop organ swells make for exquisite comfort.
70
For all their undoubted accomplishment, Beach House seem to have reached their limits as a two-piece, or worse still, have simply finishing running their creative gamut altogether.
11y
70
There’s also pleasure in hearing a band do what they do so peerlessly well: croon sweet, sweet lullabies to console us in our fleshy prisons.
11y
70
‘Bloom’ oozes simplicity, honesty and contentness. It will be a welcome sound of summer for ‘Teen Dream’ fans, but don’t expect anything too radical.
60
The high points are as good as anything they’ve ever done, though the hooky hooks and subtle gut-punches of these are couched in surroundings that teeter on the generic and the self-derivative.
11y
60
It's beautiful, spectral, dreamy, but never makes your pulse quicken.
60
Bloom is consistent in quality, and there isn't a single bad song. It just feels like they spent too much time worrying about production and not enough time songwriting.
60
Bloom’s lack of memorable moments is frustrating, because few bands are able to craft such achingly beautiful music.
60
You probably only need the first four songs, though. Mid-album, Beach House seem to sink into a lull themselves.
60
Beach House haven't bothered re-inventing the wheel, because it keeps on spinning just fine.
11y
60
The only thing that actually elevates Bloom from the linearity of its reverb-caked narcosis is the effort of vocalist Victoria Legrand, whose husky, melancholic voice provides a weighty counterpunch to the album's papery songs.
50
Bloom, unfortunately, becomes less interesting with the more attention you pay to it, largely because there is not much to set it apart from its predecessors.
11y
50
This follow-up provides more of the same with straight song writing and atmospheric arrangements that never really leave a mark.
an hour of pure eu-
phoria, is extremely
comforting like a
hot cup of coffee
in a snowy day, jumping
into the pool on
a hot summer time,
talking a walk through wither-
-ing trees in autumn
plucking fresh fruits off
and eating them (at) once in spring
simple things in life
many believe ‘bloom’ to be the best dream pop album in 20 years. it is ethereal, progressive, far reaching, journey like, and peaceful. it’s unheard of to have an album such as this; it’s been done by few aside from Cocteau twins.
in “the hours”, Victoria treats time like a landscape and refers to it as if it’s a traveling area. “the hours” magically subsists as a sleeper hit, the most underestimated song on ‘Bloom’. < i ... read more
Few albums will ever be as easy to get lost in as Bloom. This album exists in a way that you can just turn everything else off, stop worrying about everything happening in your life and in the world, and just let the gorgeous and gentle waves of sound carry you off into a state of bliss.
beach house brings an angelic hour-long experience.
i just closed my eyes and let this one play. it's easy to get lost in this album with it's superb instrumentation and dreamy vocals. it's calming and a great album to listen to if you're feeling anxious or jittery. i don't have much else to say; i highly recommend this album. 9/10.
FAV TRACKS: Myth and Lazuli
Great dreamy sounds and textures across the board. The transitions between songs are also really nice. Some songs lack a bit of variety but it really doesn't hinder the experience too much. I also wish the last part of Irene was it's own song, it would probably be my favourite.
Fav tracks: Myth, wild, lazuli, other people, troublemaker, Irene
Least Fav: New year, on the sea
Contributions By
patton, royalflush, philthy, Alejandro González, erik, MarkC, HVLL3R, Juneclew, OPENblinds, dickieblueleaf, MarkCooperBecome a Donor
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Track List
| 1 | Myth 4:18 | 98 |
| 2 | Wild 4:58 | 94 |
| 3 | Lazuli 5:01 | 95 |
| 4 | Other People 4:24 | 92 |
| 5 | The Hours 4:11 | 91 |
| 6 | Troublemaker 4:55 | 90 |
| 7 | New Year 5:25 | 89 |
| 8 | Wishes 4:46 | 93 |
| 9 | On the Sea 5:32 | 93 |
| 10 | Irene 16:57 Contains hidden track "Wherever You Go" | 89 |
Total Length: 1 hour
Year End Lists
| #2 | / | Urban Outfitters |
| #3 | / | MAGNET |
| #3 | / | Under the Radar |
| #4 | / | Obscure Sound |
| #4 | / | PopMatters |
| #4 | / | Treble |
| #6 | / | Cokemachineglow |
| #7 | / | Consequence of Sound |
| #7 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
| #7 | / | Idolator |
More Lists
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2mo
How is “Wherever you go” factored in here? Is it just lumped in with Irene? If so, I think it should take up its own separate slot, that makes the most sense.
Added on: March 8, 2012