If there was one band signed to Bella Union that echoes the same sounds as label boss Simon Raymonde’s band The Cocteau Twins, then Beach House is it. The Baltimore duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally created one of the sleeper hits of last year when this self-titled debut was released in the States. Now the UK get a chance to float away on their bed of dreamy tunes.

What first strikes you about this album is how gentle and oblique it sounds. It’s completely draped in a wall of gentle breezes of music and a production that sounds about forty years old. The duo mainly rely on their basic setup of synthesizer and guitar to create their dusty tapestry of sound. The gentle processed drums and additional tinkering weave into this, but it’s so deep in the mix as to be mere background music. Legrand’s voice is dreamy yet haunting, her ethereal lilt floating above Scally’s beautifully played guitar that slides and picks its way through each of the songs, their main driving force.

The bubbling pop genius of Master Of None sounds like a long lost Motown song from the 60’s, the clipped drums and gentle guitars should soundtrack first dances in weddings the world over. It’s just a shame that there’s not more of these twisted pop gems. Apple Orchard comes close, but it lacks a final bite, the guitars sound like the ripples made by a stone dropped on a still lake. The other tracks bubble into My Bloody Valentine territory but without their energy. In fact, this album would be a perfect soundtrack to a David Lynch film. Auburn And Ivory would be the music accompanying a car slowly driving down a highway in the complete blackness of night, the headlights of the car creating mysterious shapes in the shadows.

However, as the album finishes washing over with you, it’s hard to pick out any more highlights. The constant dreamy soundscapes are like lullabies that slowly, but surely, send you drifting into the land of nod. It should come with a warning, “Do not operate heavy machinery whilst listening to Beach House”. A slight shifting of the tempo would serve to make this a more memorable record but, due to it’s shortness, the few highlights that are here are worthy of your attention.
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Links
Beach House [official site] [myspace]
mp3:> Beach House: Master of None
[From Beach House; out now on Bella Union]