Once Twice Melody
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have created an epic 18-track album that solidifies Beach House as the rightful queen and king of dream pop.
90
As they did with Bloom, Beach House have reached greater heights than ever seemed possible. Once Twice Melody is a band at their best, again — another towering landmark in their career.
90
Their ability to embody their sound and still find new avenues for it to travel down remains unparalleled. And whilst it may not be instantly identified as their best record, the longer you sit with it, the more deserving of that title it becomes.
90
The way different songs stand out on each listen reaffirms that Beach House's consistency is the opposite of predictable.
86
Careening between gloomy pop and cinematic ballads, “Once Twice Melody” flourishes in its subtlety and warmth. Intimately familiar, yet cautiously exploratory — Beach House have delivered their most grandiose work of art to date.
84
By the time Once Twice Melody reaches its closing moments, it sounds like the band are taking a well-earned victory lap in a career full of wins.
84
From the majestic opening notes of the title track to the last electronic flourish of closer “Modern Love Stories,” Once Twice Melody is the culmination of everything Beach House do best.
83
Despite some missteps, the band's new album proves Beach House has more up its sleeve than subdued melodies.
80
With its incredible ability to balance horror and romance, machinery and humanity, this is a diverse, innovative and well-considered collection of songs that, while asking a lot of listeners, rewards absolutely.
80
The Baltimore duo’s masterful fusion of organic and synthetic textures makes each song a diaphanous little earworm of delight.
80
With the release, they again prove they are the king and queen of Dream Pop displaying all their wares in this challenging project.
7mo
80
Beach House’s expansive eighth studio album may sound like a logical continuation of their past surreal, swirling dream pop, but this time the US duo achieves some firsts.
80
Once Twice Melody is a grand statement from Beach House that sits together as an extended album, while also offering more bite-sized memorable moments to take away, no doubt leaving plenty to discover on each return.
80
They’ve never sounded so lush and cinematic, with each sonic element of their music deliciously crisp and clear.
80
Rightfully proclaimed genre-defining purveyors of dream-pop, Victoria and Alex effortlessly match their own mountainous standards, delivering yet another all-engulfing, pensive package of sonic escapism.
80
Once Twice Melody turns to maximalism to create the inhabitable space that they have grown so good at building, resulting in the duo’s most grandiose artistic statement yet.
80
Released gradually since November, the Baltimore duo’s rich, roaming eighth album was worth the wait.
80
Even with its pacing issues, Once Twice Melody is a big W for the dream pop duo.
80
The Baltimore duo's latest is an 84-minute concept album of pastoralist-tinged dream pop – dive in, and the rewards are huge.
80
Once Twice Melody marks a return to fuzz, but is no mere retread of past glories. Running 85 minutes and composed of 18 tracks, it’s Beach House’s grandest vision yet, favouring glacial, digital psychedelia as Giorgio Moroder may have imagined it.
80
Baltimore duo’s dream-pop swells to new proportions on masterful eighth album.
80
In both its sonic scope and lyrical melancholy, Once Twice Melody artfully captures the all-encompassing complexities of love. Beach House’s hymn to the grandeur of relationships is, perhaps, the most musically diverse and thematically mature project the duo has released to date—an emphatic affirmation of life’s joys and sorrows.
80
Though the album maintains the futuristic drive of an interplanetary journey, there are also ample touches of earlier era musical nostalgia laying about to go along with the retro storybook cover art.
80
The Baltimore duo's eighth record pairs trippy imagery with playful, cinematic sounds that herald the start of a bold, unpredictable new chapter.
80
Beach House are always tinkering around the edges of their sonic universe, getting darker, weirder, subtler, and more expansive. They do that on Once Twice Melody, and the payoff is enormous.
78
With panoramic proportions and gleaming finishes, the band’s sprawling eighth album luxuriates in the rhapsody of sensation itself. You don’t listen to Once Twice Melody, you dissolve into it.
70
Though undoubtedly a beautiful set of tracks, Once Twice Melody suffers from its length – almost eighty-five minutes is hefty for a listen in one sitting – and the occasional clashes in instrumentation and vocals, with sequenced drums and synthesisers taking away from the warmth of Legrand’s voice.
70
While the album is epic in scope and regularly beautiful, Once Twice Melody feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
70
The impatient will find ‘Once Twice Melody’ a tad wishy-washy, but for those who persevere there’s still a lot going on beneath the waves.
66
There’s a lesson here: this band can take their aesthetics as far as they like, but they’ll always be just that.
60
Despite the grandeur, they sound as comfortingly familiar as ever.
60
Beach House are never going to sound like anybody other than Beach House, but nearly twenty years since their debut, it’s nice to hear them spreading their wings entirely on their own terms, if a little self-indulgently.
A long summer daydream
Before starting this review, I’d like to thank everybody for helping me surpass 300 Followers! Considering only a couple of months ago the most I’d get from a review is three likes, this is absolute madness! I also want an extend warm regards to everybody in the AOTY Discord and AOTY Community server for both welcoming me with overwhelming positivity, it’s been the sweetest welcome I’ve ever received in any corner of the internet!
There are ... read more
"Once Twice Melody" remains the most ambitious project of the duo so far, but it comes at the right time, showing all the experience and mastery of Beach House.
The now legendary Dream Pop duo Beach House doesn't have much to prove anymore, just to make us vibrate again. Founded in 2004 in Baltimore, the duo composed of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have built a breathtaking discography, becoming one of the most important groups of the last two decades. No doubt they will still be ... read more
Who is Beach House?
For the blind? The vision
For the sick? The cure
For the day? The sun
For the heart? The love
For Kanye? Pete Davidson's burial
If they speak, I listen
If they have an opinion, I agree
If they have 100 fans, I'm one of them
If they have 1 fan, I'm that fan
If they don't have fans, I don't exist
I love you Beach House and I think you love me back just for letting me enjoy this masterpiece
Beach House is a band I love, but also a band that has ever evaded projects truly spectacular. I can't exactly put my finger on why I find them to be a bit less interesting than say... Cocteau Twins, since they both stick to their established sounds quite a lot. The closest I think Beach House has gotten to perfection is "Bloom" (which in all honesty is up there with "Heaven or Las Vegas"). Anyway, here they're often saved from getting ever so slightly tedious/safe by ... read more
Os sonhos, apesar de intrínsecos do homem, possuem um caráter relativamente abstrato. Durante muitos séculos, foi uma atividade intensa entender nosso imaginário enquanto dormimos. Diversas abordagens explicativas surgiram, ao mesmo passo que significados, lógicos ou mitológicos, foram atribuídos. Para Freud, os sonhos são uma forma da psique de realizar desejos, enquanto para Carl Jung, são as manifestações ... read more
Contributions By
Alejandro González, Novell_sx, spiceoflife, Toasterqueen12, anztec, ThomYorke2, Nona, OPENblinds, silvaz, MikeOwen, riquitrefe, hbear, polduan, SpaceyyBecome a Donor
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Track List
Chapter 1 / Pink Funeral
| 1 | Once Twice Melody 4:44 | 87 |
| 2 | Superstar 6:08 | 94 |
| 3 | Pink Funeral 4:56 | 88 |
| 4 | Through Me 5:48 | 87 |
Chapter 2 / New Romance
| 1 | Runaway 4:23 | 86 |
| 2 | ESP 3:48 | 83 |
| 3 | New Romance 4:12 | 90 |
| 4 | Over and Over 7:11 | 88 |
Chapter 3 / Masquerade
| 1 | Sunset 3:59 | 81 |
| 2 | Only You Know 4:49 | 85 |
| 3 | Another Go Around 3:41 | 82 |
| 4 | Masquerade 4:42 | 88 |
| 5 | Illusion of Forever 3:49 | 83 |
Chapter 4 / Modern Love Stories
| 1 | Finale 4:34 | 82 |
| 2 | The Bells 4:30 | 83 |
| 3 | Hurts to Love 4:05 | 84 |
| 4 | Many Nights 4:16 | 80 |
| 5 | Modern Love Stories 4:53 | 87 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 24 minutes
Year End Lists
| #3 | / | Under the Radar |
| #4 | / | No Ripcord |
| #4 | / | Norman Records |
| #5 | / | Slant Magazine |
| #5 | / | Variety: Jem Aswad |
| #8 | / | Spectrum Culture |
| #11 | / | Gaffa (Sweden) |
| #13 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
| #13 | / | PopMatters |
| #14 | / | MAGNET |
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1w
wish I liked chapters 3 and 4 more than I do, would definitely be and 80 or above for me in that case
Added on: November 9, 2021