Beach House – Depression Cherry

Can't believe the low ratings on this album. Beautiful music from start to finish. One of the best things I've bought in years.

The CD case is awful. Little red hairs everywhere, I never want to touch it. It was neat for the first few seconds though.

Equal parts alluring and dreamy, Beach House released their new studio album, Depression Cherry, on the 28th of August. Sticking to their formula of simple ingredients, with a couple of keyboards, an electric guitar, and the captivating voice of Victoria Legend, Beach House sticks to the nostalgic, faraway sound that they’re known for, and they do it well. If you were to consider the group to be a long-term musical project, it’s easy to see they’re doing what they set out to accomplish, and like any test of time, like a fine wine, they are aging well. As quoted in the Pitchfork review, Alex Scally said, “Trance is a big part of our thing… We’ll repeat a part for three hours while we wait for the next piece to fall into place.” You can hear these almost imperceptible moments happen, almost uncomfortably satisfying, it clicks along from song to song, especially in stand-out tracks like “Sparks”, and “Levitation”. Seeing this happen live is even more of a treat. Legend never fails to continue on the chord root or fifth, with one hand rooting the song down on the keyboard, as the guitar layers on top. This drone is, and always has been famous in their work, an omnipresent sense of grounded-ness that creates a dreamy vibe for the listeners. In a way that I always find remarkable, Beach House consistently remains to be one step ahead of what we think to expect. They speak to us in a way that lingers- much as their music lingers, it would be unfair to call any of their work sad. In a wonderfully somber, almost melancholy way, Beach House consistently delivers exactly what their fans want. Equal parts distinct and desirable, this duo proves time and time again that they know exactly what is expected of them. In a way, they almost fill a niche of sorts. Dreamy and melancholy, nostalgic and echoing, both Legend and Scally once again produce a solid body of work that caters exactly to what we want. I can say with near certainty; Beach House never fails to meet my expectations. I’m quite excited to see how the duo will progress in the future, and in my humble opinion, I’d like to give this album an 8/10. If you can find the time, do the entire album without interruptions. You won’t regret it.

Essential Tracks:

“Levitation”

“PPP”

A beautiful and landscape-esque album full of emotional peaks and valleys.

Upon putting in this album on I was inspired to leave my home, get in my car and drive the 5 north for over an hour. I replayed the album and allowed my instincts to take me to the middle of nowhere where I parked my car, got out and looked at the sky. There was very little light pollution as I had driven far enough away from Los Angeles to get a better view of the starry sky. I played this lp at least three times straight through and in so many ways it was the perfect soundtrack to the loss of love I was experiencing.
Music has the uncanny ability to teleport you to different places and times, some from your past and some of the future, but with every playback it's something you feel.

The sonics of depression cherry are incredibly hi-fi and touch upon many feelings that are real .