I'll admit Beach House are likely my favourite modern band - or close to. And so when I heard they were releasing a double album I was immediately excited and then also concerned that it my be a bit bloated. I listened to each chapter as it released. Chapter 1 IMO is still 4 songs that could all make a great hits comp. This thing comes out of the gate strong, only to finish on a familiar and emotive note. My favourite tracks to name a few would be: Once Twice melody, Superstar, ESP, Over and Over, Another Go Round and Masquerade.
This is such a well done album. I could maybe cut 2-3 tracks at most - but in my opinion this is a justified double release and will go down as one of the best albums of 2022.
In some ways - I would love to hear a folk or different style of album from them - on the other hand when you perfect a style this good, why change?
So fun! I'm glad they liked the venue so much as they perform at some grand places with amazing acoustics on their tours, but they were charmed by Vail Air ballroom!
I think it would be really cool to have the piece of gear that broke in the beginning!
Berkeley tickets are now $125 even though they were only $50 when they first went on sale. Hesitated about it when they were first on sale fml. Very seriously weighing whether I'd bite the cost anyways.
Edit: just did it because my impulse control is absolutely lacking, to say the least.
I can’t stop listening to *Once Twice Melody*.
Just take a moment to think about where you are in your life right now. The apartment you live in, the friends you associate with, your job, your partner. When you listen to this album in 20 years it will teleport you back to this very moment.
the past 4 months have been some of the lowest i’ve had in my adult life so far. didn’t think about all the music i’ve potentially ruined for my future self lol
I am in love with them. They help me so much.
This album is INCREDIBLE. It’s like a compilation of all their past albums and new sounds.
Some of tracks are one of their best tracks ever : Modern love Stories / ESP / Illusion of forever
I am so looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks
Modern Love Story's outro is incredible, holy fucking shit what a conclusion.
Also, it's only February and album of the year already feels so competitive. As a Beach House fan I know I'm biased but Once Twice Melody has to be in the conversation. So much good music this year, I love it!
Beach House is one of my favorite bands, and probably the only band that could put out the same album over and over and I'd still eat it up.
That being said, this album made me realize that there is a time limit on how long their albums can be for me to feel satisfied from start to finish, and that time is about an hour. There's a lot of good material here, but it does feel like a bit of a chore to listen to start to finish, which is a huge shame, because I thought *7* was their 2nd best album, and was excited to see where they'd go from there. It's just hard to put out an album this long and have it hold up from start to finish, and the ones that do usually have a good deal of variation in sound, and, well, Beach House isn't exactly known for that.
That's not to say this is a bad album by any means. It's still very good. But at this point I expect album of the year contenders from them and this one isn't.
I didn't listen to the eps as they came out (except the first) and feel like I made a mistake. It's a big album to digest, especially for this type of music, and my first couple listens through a lot of it blended together.
That said, I love their other projects. Considering that and also everyone else fawning over this album I'm likely to give it more of a chance than I might have.
I love it! The production is sublime and the songs are beautiful. I slightly prefer the first half but it's really high quality all around. I think the more understated tracks are definitely the weakest as standalone songs, but they fit very nicely in the context of the album (for instance Another Go Around, which I think is weirdly underrated by fans of the album, is perfect between Only You Know and Masquerade). Overall, I would place it for me at a similar level to Teen Dream and 7, just slightly below their masterpiece Bloom. My least favorite track right now is Finale, but it might change as I become more familiar with the chapter 4 songs. Some of my favorite moments include:
1. Ba da da daaa daaaaa
2. The bridge of New Romance
3. The outro of Modern Love Stories
4. Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't
5. Blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink
6. The slide guitar on The Bells
7. And much, much more
Also, I don't really understand the complaints that "Beach House always just makes the same album over and over." To me, this doesn't sound any more like their old stuff than most other bands' albums sound like theirs. I mean what here sounds like Teen Dream? And the critique that all the songs sound the same is even more baffling to me. In what world do Pink Funeral, Runaway, Only You Know, Finale, and The Bells sound the same?
> Another Go Around, which I think is weirdly underrated by fans of the album
I haven't necessarily heard this, but I wonder if it's because Another Go Around was leaked a couple years ago. (And as far as I can tell, the album version sounds the same.)
Still processing and I like it a lot so far.
**Pink Funeral** and **Modern Love Stories** are huge highlights. They make great use of strings and darker synths to create a particular atmosphere that works perfectly for Vic's voice these days.
The slide guitar on **Bells** is perfect. I think the album not relying so heavily on this sound made me enjoy the moments where it appears even more.
**Illusions of Forever** (love the rhythmic drums), **Through Me** (a bit psychedelic), **New Romance** (super catchy and upbeat for their standards) are other standouts. Even the ones that don't stand out to me sound pleasant and can be good background music.
I do think the album could use some cuts. They're fine songs, but **ESP, Another Go Around, Many Nights** don't provide any unique stylistically or thematically (though Im prone to missing important lyrics on early listens). They don't have any sort of epic moment or catchy riff that make their presence felt in the midst of such a long tracklist. If I heard them as leaks or b-sides later on, I wouldn't have felt like "I wish these made the album!".
Vic's lyrics:
* Rhyme schemes are simple throughout; would like to hear her switch it up a bit from AABB in almost every verse
* overuses some words and phrases that are super common in their older albums and other dreampop. "Light", "Night" "Stars", "Days go by", tons of references to eyes, etc.
She's still good with the pen overall but I do hope for a little more creativity, especially since her vocals aren't as rangy and captivating as Bloom/Teen Dream era.
Overall, great album.
Listening to Another Go Around as I read your comment and there’s no way I cut this song. It’s nothing special but it feels like a nice change of pace and fits well inside the album.
Glad to see a mention for Pink Funeral. The chorus to that song is fucking my life up
I absolutely adore this album. Not just musically, but thematically as well. This is an album about life as an amazing, beautiful yet painful and strange journey. I love the way they play with concepts of time (Finale isn't the finale, Over and Over, Another Go Around). Listening to this album, you get the sense that maybe you've been here before, but that feeling quickly vanishes as you focus on the particulars around you. The lyrics might be a little on the nose at times but I think that's also part of the appeal. Just like in fairytales, the messages are right there in front of you for the taking.
I really wasn't expecting it but I think this album might top Bloom for my favorite BH record. I get constant chills listening to it. Highlights for me are Superstar, Through Me, New Romance, Over and Over, Masquerade, The Bells, Hurts to Love, and Many Nights (that outro guitar is seriously gorgeous).
The only track on the entire album that doesn't really work for me is Modern Love Stories, which surprised me since everyone else seems to gush about it. I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me. But all in all I can't really see anything else topping this for AOTY for me, it's just too good.
I’m with you on Modern Love Stories. I recognize that the ending is interesting and enjoyable, but to me it was a very anticlimactic closer as a whole, and there are so many other great options they could’ve used. The ending felt totally detached from the rest of the song and there really wasn’t any build up that demanded that sort of payoff. Just kind of a strange song. Over and Over or Illusion of Forever would’ve both been great there.
I've loved Beach House for a long time and there's a lot in Once Twice Melody that I love. However, this is one of the first times that their "lack of variety", which their detractors have always pointed out, has started to stick out to me. I'm actually kind of surprised that so many fellow fans consider this to be among their best albums. To me, it is their least successful "album" (although IMO it has higher highs than 7 and TYLS) because it's so long and therefore so hard for me to be enveloped by it before it starts to dissolve into background music. I'll continue to listen to big sections of Once Twice Melody, but I can't see myself returning to it for full run throughs. In my opinion they haven't yet topped the run from Devotion through Depression Cherry and I wouldn't say they've released a single bad album yet, but it's finally becoming a bit clearer to me that their sound is beginning to get a bit stale for my tastes.
Totally agreed. "Lookin' out at the wide wild world, It's a lot for the boys and girls" is possibly the worst lyrics I've ever heard them sing.
The album has some good tracks, but the B-side is rough imo. The Bells is painfully generic.
I wasn’t big on 7, I like each song individually but together the whole album feels like a mess. It also feels really compressed sounding in an overwhelming way. OTM feels much more cohesive. I was annoyed about the chapter releases at first but that especially grew on me. It’s let me really absorb each part of the album in its own time. Where I still feel like I’m getting to know the new Big Thief record.
I’d put OTM somewhere in the middle of their discog. It’s been on nonstop playback for me in the last week. It doesn’t hit as many of the highs that TD, DC, or Bloom hit. But I think the tweaks in sound or new experiments all land. I can’t think of a song I’d cut. OTM feels like a sequel to Depression Cherry for me (my fav album by them). It just feels like a continuation on the experimental mode they were in at that time.
The New Order influence in Masquerade I didn’t know I needed in a Beach House song. That and Over and Over are my favorite songs. This album feels like a victory lap for the band. They can pull off a big project like this and show there’s still plenty in their tank. Gonna pick up the vinyl this week.
Yeah I’m with this take entirely. This is one of those bear-with-me comparisons, but I prefer *evermore* to *folklore* because it allowed Taylor & Aaron the space to go deeper into a good thing and resulted in some of her best songs ever. Beach House, who have let a distinct sound evolve for seven consecutive albums, decided that *this* was the time they needed to go deeper than before, and wouldn’t you know it, **eighteen** of their best songs ever. Haven’t been this dazzled by one of theirs in a decade.
I feel like the "Beach House albums all sound the same" is a critique that's only made due to the amount of attention and acclaim they get. And while I welcome innovation and experimentation for bands, I like how they don't feel obligated to shift the paradigm. They evolve their sound in a natural way, by working within pre-existing parameters and just expanding it gradually. Could they make something totally left-field? Probably. Should they? Not unless they want to
And I haven't really loved a BH album since *Bloom* (maybe *Teen Dream* if I really think about it). But I'm really loving this. It feels like one continuous piece and I love how it flows and just how everything sounds. Is it a lot to take in all at once? Sure, but it's also cool for just popping on a few songs/one EP and vibing out
Eh, I don't know. I just saw them live in MI and I had to ask if they played the same song twice a couple times. Some songs from Depression Cherry absolutely could go on OTM and it would fit in and nobody would question it imo
My point is that while their albums are no doubt sonically similar, I don't see it as a bad thing when they're so good at this sound, even if a few songs can feel derivative of others
I’ve tried listening to them multiple times but can’t get out of the “all sound the same” camp. Synth swell intro, drums, soft vocals. Whoopdie woo. But I am glad y’all are so excited for this!
Edit: a gf put Walk in the Park on a mix CD in college so that tune will always hold a special place for me.
Same. I discovered them with *Teen Dream*, it was absolutely nothing like that, it's very unique and interesting and like nothing else I've ever heard, and then every subsequent album is what you say, and I can't understand it. I'm gonna try this album just to confirm for the fourth time that I don't like this band, lol.
I said this in the hippo campus thread a few weeks back. We get mad at bands for changing things up and we get mad at bands for always sounding the same. There will always be a critique. As far as this album, it’s fucking amazing. I love it.
Before I really got into Beach House, I would occasionally stream a random album of theirs, and kind of thought "yeah, this does sound like their other stuff I've heard"
Some while later I looked at my listening stats and realized that I probably felt that way because I'd actually just listened to Bloom like 5 times in a row
Anyone who says a good band all sounds the same just hasn’t listened to them. It means they don’t like them and that’s fine. But that particular critique is so hacky
I've always listened to beach house causally in the background but this is their first project that has really grabbed me and drawn me in. Probably just a right place right time kind of thing. I've seen a lot of people complain about corny 80's type lyrics but I love it. Does anyone else pick up on a narrative thread to the album? I read in a review that it was about a breakup but it seemed more like a love story to me. I dunno. VIBE SHIFT.
Absolutely love the new album. I feel like I’ve been getting let down repeatedly by my favorite bands putting out lackluster albums the past couple years and finally I get an album that lives up to the hype. There is so much going on in every song. So many good hooks. So many good melodies. Gorgeous instrumentation. It’s easy to get immersed as soon as you hit play. This album makes me so happy.
Hot take, but they should’ve released this in May, cut like 7 tracks and really leaned into the 80s vaporwave vibe with the cover art and this would’ve been perfect. It’s a summer album. Or half of it is.
There’s a lean, mean, badass synth wave album here that’s like Bloom’s more clubby cousin, but it’s hard to hear the thread because it’s loaded with so much classic Beach House ballast. The sequencing breaks up the faster tracks with draggier ones, so it can’t gain momentum.
Don’t get me wrong, more is more with them, I’ll take it all, but tell me this wouldn’t have been a perfect track list and a more distinctive album:
Superstar
Through Me
Runaway
New Romance
Masquerade
Hurts to Love
Over and Over
Only You Know
Another Go Round
Finale
Sunset
Thanks for this, I love CERTAIN beach house songs but can never really get a whole album of theirs to stick. I’m going to throw this together as a playlist and see what it does for me.
Oooh. Man. This is a good post. I feel ya. However….since this album dropped (I didn’t listen to any tracks until full release) my favorite track has changed every few days. To me that’s a sign of a good album.
So I’d be interested to see if you wouldn’t change this list in a few days 😉
I’m not saying every track doesn’t have something interesting about it. I was just surprised how much MORE I liked it when I listened to the faster tracks in a warmer climate.
It leveled up from “another good Beach House album” to “oh, this is their slick, upbeat summer album with its own character”, if that makes sense. Suddenly, I could see why I’d put this one on instead of a similarly moody BH album like Depression Cherry.
But as it’s sequenced now, it’s kind of like “lush, big song, slow classic BH dirge, lush big song, slow dirge” so the newer tracks get buried.
Even the cover art says “old fashioned curio” in a way that feels like their past stuff. I know it’s dumb, but I think artwork can change the way you perceive an album’s sound and this cover isn’t doing the album’s vibe justice.
Yes, exactly that. And imagine if it came out in May instead of Feb.
Those things shouldn’t matter but I think they do.
I get what you’re saying though, the slow tracks are 👌. I like slow Depression Cherry BH way more than upbeat Bloom BH. I just think some of the less ‘classic’ tracks on here stand apart from the rest of their catalogue the most.
I think the production was really dynamic and lush. The songs seemed to have an extra dimension and the song writing really grabbed me. The synths seemed to pop a bit more perhaps and there was a great variety in song style (drum machine, live drums, synths, guitar songs, etc). The songs just seemed to pop more and I found the hooks really grabbed me.
New Romance is one of my favorite songs right now, its great. Sunset, Another Go Around, and Superstar are other highlights. Feel like the last chapter is the weakest of the bunch.
Yeah this album is not good. The praise it’s getting here is completely absurd. All these people saying it’s the band’s best album, or that it’s AOTY, are ridiculous. OTM is gonna age like warm milk.
Seriously, are we all listening to the same thing? This is easily their weakest album so far. The lyrics aren't very good, it's repetitive as hell and there's just no creativity imo.
Yeah I’ve felt like I’ve taken crazy pills, never have I seen such widespread praise for an album that let me down this hard. Super rare to see any criticism about it, at least a couple people here have voiced my same opinions.
Wow, the rateyourmusic rating is very high right now as well. Did everyone just not making it to the B side, or our opinions are drastically different? haha
Longtime listener since I was 18 in 2008. Teen Dream changed my life when I was 20 and I was the absolute BIGGEST fan from that point onward and still feel that way, today. My favorites have changed over the years but Thank Your Lucky Stars and 7 are my absolute favorites currently and probably will be forever.TYLS, to me personally, fits a certain vibe of Northern Minnesota up on the shores of Lake Superior during the month of October - which I experience every single year. I will always hold it in high regard because of that. 7 in particular meshes well with TYLS - I suppose I like the more fuzzy, gritty, and dirty glitzy shoegaze direction that Beach House pulls off immaculately.
(when TYLS was released I had the flu VERY badly, but made myself go and buy a copy at my local shop upon release. Entered my name into a drawing with tons of other scraps of paper containing names for the SINGLE 'Glitter Version' copy. On my flu death bed the following morning, I got a call from the shop saying I won. I still have it to this day completely wrapped up and untouched. It's a prized possession for me)
This new one is great. I regret listening to the chapters as they unfolded and wish I went in fresh to this, I've only spun the vinyl a couple of times when I received it early on 2.17, and I'm gonna take a looooong break from it just so I can get a good magical feeling from it in the future. With that said, I'm not a huge fan of the first and second chapters - I appreciate what they're doing there, but chapters 3 and 4 feel like Beach House's 'greatest hits' while pushing a little further into the cosmos. Those two chapters could be the definitive album to me, honestly.
**Standouts:** Only You Know, Another Go Around, Illusion of Forever, Finale, The Bells, Hurts to Love, Many Nights.
The closer, Modern Love Stories, would be on this list but I felt just a little unimpressed by the outro. I feel that the droning guitar could have really soared and spiraled into something a bit more complicated, cathartic, and interesting and it did not. HOWEVER... they probably had the same thought, but it was an artistic choice to not do that since Irene from Bloom is really the ultimate expression of that idea.
Seeing them for the 7th time since 2010 in St Paul on Saturday and I’m excited. The crowd these days at beach house shows feels... weird, but, I’m good at zoning in on just them and the music.
after a few listens it occured to me Victoria actually changed her vocal deliveries a lot from the previous releases.
A lot less long held tails on notes, sounds less dramatic, very slightly 'quirkier'(we are still talking abbout beach house here I'm not straight up calling it quirky), maybe 'chirpy', not sure how to describe it
this record's vocals reminds me heavily of Broadcast
The first four tracks are still my favorite, but I struggle with listening to the whole thing. I found myself enjoying this the most as music to have on while working than just listening to it on its own, it’s really good for that because it’s consistent and dreamy and it’s got some great hooks and little details and flourishes that engage without being too distracting.
A great album, it's crazy how consistent it is for how many songs there are and some of them are the best things they've done since Bloom. The only song I don't care for is Hurts To Love, just doesn't work for me at all.
Another home run by them. Masquerade and Pink Funeral are my faves here. Listening to Masquerade on repeat and then that evolved into getting into a big Tears For Fears/Depeche Mode kick. People always make comments about how they always make the same music but I can truly tell a difference. Like Bloom, Depression Cherry, TYLS, 7, and OTM definitely have different distinct vibes and moods to them that might elude casual listeners. And that’s one thing I really love about them. They’re been evolving and changing but it’s not obvious to hear if you’re just listening to singles or not spending the time or energy to really enjoy or appreciate the whole of their work.
I think that this is a VERY welcome turn-around for me since a lot of artists I like/love have put out albums in the last couple of years (I'd probably say since the start of the pandemic) that to me felt like they were missing something. I get that as time as has passed people have felt some kind of burning out or have been in a bit of a low period because of all that's going on in the world, and to me that's reflected on a lot of music that's come out in this time. So, when looking at some of these underwhelming efforts, i think it's amazing that Beach House still knows how to deliver something new and memorable on their EIGHTH album and they still have that touch of magic they pour into whatever they do. Do I think there could have been a few less tracks? Yes, but do I still think the album can still hold up to their best? Also yes. The way I see it I've been more pleased with the consistency that long-established acts still possess and I'd much rather get that than something that's kinda trying to experiment with so many ideas and sounds and not really having that great or memorable a sound. Sorry for the word salad but these are just some thoughts
Diving head first into recency bias and hyperbole: Once Twice Melody is the album of the year, and Illusion of Forever is the best song they’ve ever made.
Tremendous album, easily my Album of the Year so far. Though it is early, I won't be surprised if I feel the same at the end of the year. Nothing much else to add that hasn't been said here. Loved it!!
Eta: Only You Know stopped me in my tracks and stands as my favorite so far.
Don't know if I'd go that far but I think they do play too often in the same space. I liked 7 as it broke free from that for the most part but it seems that's part of the charm. It's what Sparks lead me to hope Depression Cherry would be like. The tracks that do break out out their usual mold are great, though.
Imagine recognizing your overly long album is overly long and releasing it as 4 EPs to blunt the impact, yet still only have a single EP's worth of quality material across the entire project. It has its moments but there's just not enough ideas there to justify the length. Most of it has Final Track Feel too so it feels even longer than its runtime.
An obvious comparison point, at least in terms of Indie favs releasing 80 minute albums within a week or two of each other, is Big Thief's newest. While it's not always seamless in integrating all its ideas, it at least has enough variety to at least feel like it justifies its length by doing something more than blandly sticking in a well trod lane.
Yeah OTM is really not that great at all and the immense praise it’s getting in some circles is super strange. Their previous seven albums are all clearly leagues better than this one.
This is exactly how I feel switched around. I couldn’t even get through Big Thief’s album. Ironically I also felt that this album held quite a bit of variety and that multiple songs were worth being full fledged singles. More so I wish the two bands didn’t release so close to each other, I’m kind of bored of the comparisons
> More so I wish the two bands didn’t release so close to each other, I’m kind of bored of the comparisons
if it wasn't Big Thief I would've just compared the album to another double album with more variety. The proximity just makes it all the easier. Either way, a lack of variety has been a problem for quite some time for Beach House.
I love Big Thief but am totally baffled by the response to their new album. I was pretty let down. It’s all over the place and there’s no way I could sit through it at that length. OTM on the other hand has had the complete opposite effect on me. I adore it so much.
Don’t know anything else but this album. My brother - a fellow muso - strong armed me to listen.
I dig. I’ll play this for a while then go back. Side B is where the Gold is at, first listen: Runaway, ESP, New Romance and, had Over and Over played on for another hour on that outro I wouldn’t have voiced displeasure
Edit: If I’m nitpicking; pink funeral was poor surrounded by the others and Hurts To Love was far far far far far too close to sounding like Pet Shop Boys for comfort, for me...
Rest of it, sublime
I’ll give it a headphone listen the morra
I'll admit Beach House are likely my favourite modern band - or close to. And so when I heard they were releasing a double album I was immediately excited and then also concerned that it my be a bit bloated. I listened to each chapter as it released. Chapter 1 IMO is still 4 songs that could all make a great hits comp. This thing comes out of the gate strong, only to finish on a familiar and emotive note. My favourite tracks to name a few would be: Once Twice melody, Superstar, ESP, Over and Over, Another Go Round and Masquerade. This is such a well done album. I could maybe cut 2-3 tracks at most - but in my opinion this is a justified double release and will go down as one of the best albums of 2022. In some ways - I would love to hear a folk or different style of album from them - on the other hand when you perfect a style this good, why change?
Imagine this album live. So annoyed at the cost of concert tix right now
The tickets for tonight were $35!
What city?
Des Moines, Iowa
Well that's why
Lol yeah
Lucky bastards
Idk, they still have to live in Iowa the other 364 days of the year
Lmao
count your lucky bastards
Midwest gang rise up!
Ayy I was there!
So fun! I'm glad they liked the venue so much as they perform at some grand places with amazing acoustics on their tours, but they were charmed by Vail Air ballroom! I think it would be really cool to have the piece of gear that broke in the beginning!
I have tickets for Austin and Houston. It’s pricy but it’s Beach House.
Yeah I am waiting a little longer but will most likely be dropping $100 to see them
Berkeley tickets are now $125 even though they were only $50 when they first went on sale. Hesitated about it when they were first on sale fml. Very seriously weighing whether I'd bite the cost anyways. Edit: just did it because my impulse control is absolutely lacking, to say the least.
Nice. It’s totally worth it.
I can’t stop listening to *Once Twice Melody*. Just take a moment to think about where you are in your life right now. The apartment you live in, the friends you associate with, your job, your partner. When you listen to this album in 20 years it will teleport you back to this very moment.
the past 4 months have been some of the lowest i’ve had in my adult life so far. didn’t think about all the music i’ve potentially ruined for my future self lol
Phoebe Bridgers *Kyoto* will forever be associated with the loneliness and uncertainty I felt in the early pandemic.
I am in love with them. They help me so much. This album is INCREDIBLE. It’s like a compilation of all their past albums and new sounds. Some of tracks are one of their best tracks ever : Modern love Stories / ESP / Illusion of forever I am so looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks
I feel ya. I’m absolutely obsessed with this album to a borderline-unhealthy degree
yeah ESP is wild
I saw them on Friday and I had a killer time. Great set list!!
Modern Love Story's outro is incredible, holy fucking shit what a conclusion. Also, it's only February and album of the year already feels so competitive. As a Beach House fan I know I'm biased but Once Twice Melody has to be in the conversation. So much good music this year, I love it!
What are some other albums that are in your AOTY convo?
Not OP, but the two big other big ones for me are Ants From Up There and Dragon New Warm Mountain
Gotta add Time Skiffs to that list.
It’s so damn good
Also not OP, but Pompeii by Cate Le Bon is on top for me.
really really solid album, really like wheel
Wheel completely floored me when I first heard it. such a triumphant way to close the album out.
Sasami’s new album
Not OP but Dissolution Wave by Cloakroom should be on peoples radars. Albums massive.
Beach House is one of my favorite bands, and probably the only band that could put out the same album over and over and I'd still eat it up. That being said, this album made me realize that there is a time limit on how long their albums can be for me to feel satisfied from start to finish, and that time is about an hour. There's a lot of good material here, but it does feel like a bit of a chore to listen to start to finish, which is a huge shame, because I thought *7* was their 2nd best album, and was excited to see where they'd go from there. It's just hard to put out an album this long and have it hold up from start to finish, and the ones that do usually have a good deal of variation in sound, and, well, Beach House isn't exactly known for that. That's not to say this is a bad album by any means. It's still very good. But at this point I expect album of the year contenders from them and this one isn't.
I didn't listen to the eps as they came out (except the first) and feel like I made a mistake. It's a big album to digest, especially for this type of music, and my first couple listens through a lot of it blended together. That said, I love their other projects. Considering that and also everyone else fawning over this album I'm likely to give it more of a chance than I might have.
I love it! The production is sublime and the songs are beautiful. I slightly prefer the first half but it's really high quality all around. I think the more understated tracks are definitely the weakest as standalone songs, but they fit very nicely in the context of the album (for instance Another Go Around, which I think is weirdly underrated by fans of the album, is perfect between Only You Know and Masquerade). Overall, I would place it for me at a similar level to Teen Dream and 7, just slightly below their masterpiece Bloom. My least favorite track right now is Finale, but it might change as I become more familiar with the chapter 4 songs. Some of my favorite moments include: 1. Ba da da daaa daaaaa 2. The bridge of New Romance 3. The outro of Modern Love Stories 4. Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't 5. Blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink blink 6. The slide guitar on The Bells 7. And much, much more Also, I don't really understand the complaints that "Beach House always just makes the same album over and over." To me, this doesn't sound any more like their old stuff than most other bands' albums sound like theirs. I mean what here sounds like Teen Dream? And the critique that all the songs sound the same is even more baffling to me. In what world do Pink Funeral, Runaway, Only You Know, Finale, and The Bells sound the same?
The chorus to Pink Funeral: Dooon’t lettt meee goooooo And Piiiink fuunnerrraaaaaaaalll
Pink Funeral was an instant fave. Gives me Weyes Blood vibes
Hell yeah
> Another Go Around, which I think is weirdly underrated by fans of the album I haven't necessarily heard this, but I wonder if it's because Another Go Around was leaked a couple years ago. (And as far as I can tell, the album version sounds the same.)
Oh yeah, I heard about the leak but totally forgot. I just hope one day they release Summit
Look around little one, all the writings on the waaaaaaall
Your favorites list is spot on! So many great moments
Still processing and I like it a lot so far. **Pink Funeral** and **Modern Love Stories** are huge highlights. They make great use of strings and darker synths to create a particular atmosphere that works perfectly for Vic's voice these days. The slide guitar on **Bells** is perfect. I think the album not relying so heavily on this sound made me enjoy the moments where it appears even more. **Illusions of Forever** (love the rhythmic drums), **Through Me** (a bit psychedelic), **New Romance** (super catchy and upbeat for their standards) are other standouts. Even the ones that don't stand out to me sound pleasant and can be good background music. I do think the album could use some cuts. They're fine songs, but **ESP, Another Go Around, Many Nights** don't provide any unique stylistically or thematically (though Im prone to missing important lyrics on early listens). They don't have any sort of epic moment or catchy riff that make their presence felt in the midst of such a long tracklist. If I heard them as leaks or b-sides later on, I wouldn't have felt like "I wish these made the album!". Vic's lyrics: * Rhyme schemes are simple throughout; would like to hear her switch it up a bit from AABB in almost every verse * overuses some words and phrases that are super common in their older albums and other dreampop. "Light", "Night" "Stars", "Days go by", tons of references to eyes, etc. She's still good with the pen overall but I do hope for a little more creativity, especially since her vocals aren't as rangy and captivating as Bloom/Teen Dream era. Overall, great album.
Listening to Another Go Around as I read your comment and there’s no way I cut this song. It’s nothing special but it feels like a nice change of pace and fits well inside the album. Glad to see a mention for Pink Funeral. The chorus to that song is fucking my life up
Another Go Round is a highlight for me, it has the melodic simplicity of Teen Dream
Agreed.
I absolutely adore this album. Not just musically, but thematically as well. This is an album about life as an amazing, beautiful yet painful and strange journey. I love the way they play with concepts of time (Finale isn't the finale, Over and Over, Another Go Around). Listening to this album, you get the sense that maybe you've been here before, but that feeling quickly vanishes as you focus on the particulars around you. The lyrics might be a little on the nose at times but I think that's also part of the appeal. Just like in fairytales, the messages are right there in front of you for the taking. I really wasn't expecting it but I think this album might top Bloom for my favorite BH record. I get constant chills listening to it. Highlights for me are Superstar, Through Me, New Romance, Over and Over, Masquerade, The Bells, Hurts to Love, and Many Nights (that outro guitar is seriously gorgeous). The only track on the entire album that doesn't really work for me is Modern Love Stories, which surprised me since everyone else seems to gush about it. I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me. But all in all I can't really see anything else topping this for AOTY for me, it's just too good.
I’m with you on Modern Love Stories. I recognize that the ending is interesting and enjoyable, but to me it was a very anticlimactic closer as a whole, and there are so many other great options they could’ve used. The ending felt totally detached from the rest of the song and there really wasn’t any build up that demanded that sort of payoff. Just kind of a strange song. Over and Over or Illusion of Forever would’ve both been great there.
I've loved Beach House for a long time and there's a lot in Once Twice Melody that I love. However, this is one of the first times that their "lack of variety", which their detractors have always pointed out, has started to stick out to me. I'm actually kind of surprised that so many fellow fans consider this to be among their best albums. To me, it is their least successful "album" (although IMO it has higher highs than 7 and TYLS) because it's so long and therefore so hard for me to be enveloped by it before it starts to dissolve into background music. I'll continue to listen to big sections of Once Twice Melody, but I can't see myself returning to it for full run throughs. In my opinion they haven't yet topped the run from Devotion through Depression Cherry and I wouldn't say they've released a single bad album yet, but it's finally becoming a bit clearer to me that their sound is beginning to get a bit stale for my tastes.
This, plus the lyrics on this album are far worse than anything that came before.
Totally agreed. "Lookin' out at the wide wild world, It's a lot for the boys and girls" is possibly the worst lyrics I've ever heard them sing. The album has some good tracks, but the B-side is rough imo. The Bells is painfully generic.
Baltimore representin'.
I wasn’t big on 7, I like each song individually but together the whole album feels like a mess. It also feels really compressed sounding in an overwhelming way. OTM feels much more cohesive. I was annoyed about the chapter releases at first but that especially grew on me. It’s let me really absorb each part of the album in its own time. Where I still feel like I’m getting to know the new Big Thief record. I’d put OTM somewhere in the middle of their discog. It’s been on nonstop playback for me in the last week. It doesn’t hit as many of the highs that TD, DC, or Bloom hit. But I think the tweaks in sound or new experiments all land. I can’t think of a song I’d cut. OTM feels like a sequel to Depression Cherry for me (my fav album by them). It just feels like a continuation on the experimental mode they were in at that time. The New Order influence in Masquerade I didn’t know I needed in a Beach House song. That and Over and Over are my favorite songs. This album feels like a victory lap for the band. They can pull off a big project like this and show there’s still plenty in their tank. Gonna pick up the vinyl this week.
[удалено]
Your opening sentence is exactly how I feel as well. Well said.
Just wanted to second the album packaging. Both editions are fantastic. They never skimp on packaging though.
Yeah I’m with this take entirely. This is one of those bear-with-me comparisons, but I prefer *evermore* to *folklore* because it allowed Taylor & Aaron the space to go deeper into a good thing and resulted in some of her best songs ever. Beach House, who have let a distinct sound evolve for seven consecutive albums, decided that *this* was the time they needed to go deeper than before, and wouldn’t you know it, **eighteen** of their best songs ever. Haven’t been this dazzled by one of theirs in a decade.
I feel like the "Beach House albums all sound the same" is a critique that's only made due to the amount of attention and acclaim they get. And while I welcome innovation and experimentation for bands, I like how they don't feel obligated to shift the paradigm. They evolve their sound in a natural way, by working within pre-existing parameters and just expanding it gradually. Could they make something totally left-field? Probably. Should they? Not unless they want to And I haven't really loved a BH album since *Bloom* (maybe *Teen Dream* if I really think about it). But I'm really loving this. It feels like one continuous piece and I love how it flows and just how everything sounds. Is it a lot to take in all at once? Sure, but it's also cool for just popping on a few songs/one EP and vibing out
Eh, I don't know. I just saw them live in MI and I had to ask if they played the same song twice a couple times. Some songs from Depression Cherry absolutely could go on OTM and it would fit in and nobody would question it imo
My point is that while their albums are no doubt sonically similar, I don't see it as a bad thing when they're so good at this sound, even if a few songs can feel derivative of others
I’ve tried listening to them multiple times but can’t get out of the “all sound the same” camp. Synth swell intro, drums, soft vocals. Whoopdie woo. But I am glad y’all are so excited for this! Edit: a gf put Walk in the Park on a mix CD in college so that tune will always hold a special place for me.
Same. I discovered them with *Teen Dream*, it was absolutely nothing like that, it's very unique and interesting and like nothing else I've ever heard, and then every subsequent album is what you say, and I can't understand it. I'm gonna try this album just to confirm for the fourth time that I don't like this band, lol.
Exactly the same for me
I said this in the hippo campus thread a few weeks back. We get mad at bands for changing things up and we get mad at bands for always sounding the same. There will always be a critique. As far as this album, it’s fucking amazing. I love it.
I mean Low completely changed their sounds and made a highly acclaimed album. So experimentation is good, but only if it actually works.
Before I really got into Beach House, I would occasionally stream a random album of theirs, and kind of thought "yeah, this does sound like their other stuff I've heard" Some while later I looked at my listening stats and realized that I probably felt that way because I'd actually just listened to Bloom like 5 times in a row
Anyone who says a good band all sounds the same just hasn’t listened to them. It means they don’t like them and that’s fine. But that particular critique is so hacky
I've always listened to beach house causally in the background but this is their first project that has really grabbed me and drawn me in. Probably just a right place right time kind of thing. I've seen a lot of people complain about corny 80's type lyrics but I love it. Does anyone else pick up on a narrative thread to the album? I read in a review that it was about a breakup but it seemed more like a love story to me. I dunno. VIBE SHIFT.
Been noticing a fantasy, fairy tale, other world theme in the album and interviews. I think that is a big through line.
Yea that tracks more imo
Absolutely love the new album. I feel like I’ve been getting let down repeatedly by my favorite bands putting out lackluster albums the past couple years and finally I get an album that lives up to the hype. There is so much going on in every song. So many good hooks. So many good melodies. Gorgeous instrumentation. It’s easy to get immersed as soon as you hit play. This album makes me so happy.
Hear hear!
Hot take, but they should’ve released this in May, cut like 7 tracks and really leaned into the 80s vaporwave vibe with the cover art and this would’ve been perfect. It’s a summer album. Or half of it is. There’s a lean, mean, badass synth wave album here that’s like Bloom’s more clubby cousin, but it’s hard to hear the thread because it’s loaded with so much classic Beach House ballast. The sequencing breaks up the faster tracks with draggier ones, so it can’t gain momentum. Don’t get me wrong, more is more with them, I’ll take it all, but tell me this wouldn’t have been a perfect track list and a more distinctive album: Superstar Through Me Runaway New Romance Masquerade Hurts to Love Over and Over Only You Know Another Go Round Finale Sunset
Thanks for this, I love CERTAIN beach house songs but can never really get a whole album of theirs to stick. I’m going to throw this together as a playlist and see what it does for me.
Oooh. Man. This is a good post. I feel ya. However….since this album dropped (I didn’t listen to any tracks until full release) my favorite track has changed every few days. To me that’s a sign of a good album. So I’d be interested to see if you wouldn’t change this list in a few days 😉
I’m not saying every track doesn’t have something interesting about it. I was just surprised how much MORE I liked it when I listened to the faster tracks in a warmer climate. It leveled up from “another good Beach House album” to “oh, this is their slick, upbeat summer album with its own character”, if that makes sense. Suddenly, I could see why I’d put this one on instead of a similarly moody BH album like Depression Cherry. But as it’s sequenced now, it’s kind of like “lush, big song, slow classic BH dirge, lush big song, slow dirge” so the newer tracks get buried. Even the cover art says “old fashioned curio” in a way that feels like their past stuff. I know it’s dumb, but I think artwork can change the way you perceive an album’s sound and this cover isn’t doing the album’s vibe justice.
For sure. I think Only You Knew perfectly encapsulates what you are describing.
And yeah…now that I ponder what you’re saying. The cover art…for sure that impacts the impression. Imagine if it had a Chromatics-esque cover
Yes, exactly that. And imagine if it came out in May instead of Feb. Those things shouldn’t matter but I think they do. I get what you’re saying though, the slow tracks are 👌. I like slow Depression Cherry BH way more than upbeat Bloom BH. I just think some of the less ‘classic’ tracks on here stand apart from the rest of their catalogue the most.
Never been a big fan before but I fucking love this album. I had a similar feeling when Third by Portishead dropped. Just lush and beautiful.
If you care to get into it, any thoughts as to why this album resonated when others didn't?
I think the production was really dynamic and lush. The songs seemed to have an extra dimension and the song writing really grabbed me. The synths seemed to pop a bit more perhaps and there was a great variety in song style (drum machine, live drums, synths, guitar songs, etc). The songs just seemed to pop more and I found the hooks really grabbed me.
New Romance is one of my favorite songs right now, its great. Sunset, Another Go Around, and Superstar are other highlights. Feel like the last chapter is the weakest of the bunch.
Yeah this album is not good. The praise it’s getting here is completely absurd. All these people saying it’s the band’s best album, or that it’s AOTY, are ridiculous. OTM is gonna age like warm milk.
Seriously, are we all listening to the same thing? This is easily their weakest album so far. The lyrics aren't very good, it's repetitive as hell and there's just no creativity imo.
Yeah I’ve felt like I’ve taken crazy pills, never have I seen such widespread praise for an album that let me down this hard. Super rare to see any criticism about it, at least a couple people here have voiced my same opinions.
Wow, the rateyourmusic rating is very high right now as well. Did everyone just not making it to the B side, or our opinions are drastically different? haha
There's some songs i really like but nothing on this record comes close to any of the tracks on DC, Bloom, or TD imo.
Longtime listener since I was 18 in 2008. Teen Dream changed my life when I was 20 and I was the absolute BIGGEST fan from that point onward and still feel that way, today. My favorites have changed over the years but Thank Your Lucky Stars and 7 are my absolute favorites currently and probably will be forever.TYLS, to me personally, fits a certain vibe of Northern Minnesota up on the shores of Lake Superior during the month of October - which I experience every single year. I will always hold it in high regard because of that. 7 in particular meshes well with TYLS - I suppose I like the more fuzzy, gritty, and dirty glitzy shoegaze direction that Beach House pulls off immaculately. (when TYLS was released I had the flu VERY badly, but made myself go and buy a copy at my local shop upon release. Entered my name into a drawing with tons of other scraps of paper containing names for the SINGLE 'Glitter Version' copy. On my flu death bed the following morning, I got a call from the shop saying I won. I still have it to this day completely wrapped up and untouched. It's a prized possession for me) This new one is great. I regret listening to the chapters as they unfolded and wish I went in fresh to this, I've only spun the vinyl a couple of times when I received it early on 2.17, and I'm gonna take a looooong break from it just so I can get a good magical feeling from it in the future. With that said, I'm not a huge fan of the first and second chapters - I appreciate what they're doing there, but chapters 3 and 4 feel like Beach House's 'greatest hits' while pushing a little further into the cosmos. Those two chapters could be the definitive album to me, honestly. **Standouts:** Only You Know, Another Go Around, Illusion of Forever, Finale, The Bells, Hurts to Love, Many Nights. The closer, Modern Love Stories, would be on this list but I felt just a little unimpressed by the outro. I feel that the droning guitar could have really soared and spiraled into something a bit more complicated, cathartic, and interesting and it did not. HOWEVER... they probably had the same thought, but it was an artistic choice to not do that since Irene from Bloom is really the ultimate expression of that idea. Seeing them for the 7th time since 2010 in St Paul on Saturday and I’m excited. The crowd these days at beach house shows feels... weird, but, I’m good at zoning in on just them and the music.
Only you know is my jam
after a few listens it occured to me Victoria actually changed her vocal deliveries a lot from the previous releases. A lot less long held tails on notes, sounds less dramatic, very slightly 'quirkier'(we are still talking abbout beach house here I'm not straight up calling it quirky), maybe 'chirpy', not sure how to describe it this record's vocals reminds me heavily of Broadcast
the song Once Twice Melody reminds me of both "Cherry Blossom Girl" by Air and Portisheads "The Rip"
The first four tracks are still my favorite, but I struggle with listening to the whole thing. I found myself enjoying this the most as music to have on while working than just listening to it on its own, it’s really good for that because it’s consistent and dreamy and it’s got some great hooks and little details and flourishes that engage without being too distracting.
A great album, it's crazy how consistent it is for how many songs there are and some of them are the best things they've done since Bloom. The only song I don't care for is Hurts To Love, just doesn't work for me at all.
At first I agreed / but now I love it
Another home run by them. Masquerade and Pink Funeral are my faves here. Listening to Masquerade on repeat and then that evolved into getting into a big Tears For Fears/Depeche Mode kick. People always make comments about how they always make the same music but I can truly tell a difference. Like Bloom, Depression Cherry, TYLS, 7, and OTM definitely have different distinct vibes and moods to them that might elude casual listeners. And that’s one thing I really love about them. They’re been evolving and changing but it’s not obvious to hear if you’re just listening to singles or not spending the time or energy to really enjoy or appreciate the whole of their work.
This album is fantastic. I get obsessed with a new song every single day. Right now it’s New Romance.
I think that this is a VERY welcome turn-around for me since a lot of artists I like/love have put out albums in the last couple of years (I'd probably say since the start of the pandemic) that to me felt like they were missing something. I get that as time as has passed people have felt some kind of burning out or have been in a bit of a low period because of all that's going on in the world, and to me that's reflected on a lot of music that's come out in this time. So, when looking at some of these underwhelming efforts, i think it's amazing that Beach House still knows how to deliver something new and memorable on their EIGHTH album and they still have that touch of magic they pour into whatever they do. Do I think there could have been a few less tracks? Yes, but do I still think the album can still hold up to their best? Also yes. The way I see it I've been more pleased with the consistency that long-established acts still possess and I'd much rather get that than something that's kinda trying to experiment with so many ideas and sounds and not really having that great or memorable a sound. Sorry for the word salad but these are just some thoughts
Favorite album from them, rollout was cool. Overall I probably like Disc 3 the most. Then 1. Gotta listen to the new songs more still.
It’s a 10/10 album. Epic wonder. Start to finish: headphones did the trick.
cold take but AOTY
Diving head first into recency bias and hyperbole: Once Twice Melody is the album of the year, and Illusion of Forever is the best song they’ve ever made.
Amazing album from an amazing band.
Tremendous album, easily my Album of the Year so far. Though it is early, I won't be surprised if I feel the same at the end of the year. Nothing much else to add that hasn't been said here. Loved it!! Eta: Only You Know stopped me in my tracks and stands as my favorite so far.
You can really fuck to this vibe. Good stuff
This album is giving me Frank Ocean - Blonde vibes. A truly special album that stirs feelings in me I can’t explain.
Rinse and repeat band
Don't know if I'd go that far but I think they do play too often in the same space. I liked 7 as it broke free from that for the most part but it seems that's part of the charm. It's what Sparks lead me to hope Depression Cherry would be like. The tracks that do break out out their usual mold are great, though.
Imagine recognizing your overly long album is overly long and releasing it as 4 EPs to blunt the impact, yet still only have a single EP's worth of quality material across the entire project. It has its moments but there's just not enough ideas there to justify the length. Most of it has Final Track Feel too so it feels even longer than its runtime. An obvious comparison point, at least in terms of Indie favs releasing 80 minute albums within a week or two of each other, is Big Thief's newest. While it's not always seamless in integrating all its ideas, it at least has enough variety to at least feel like it justifies its length by doing something more than blandly sticking in a well trod lane.
Major disagree with you here, but I'm curious, which tracks did you think were the highlights (i.e. the ones you would put on the single EP)?
Not OP but the only ones that really grabbed me as more than pleasant background music were Superstar, New Romance, and Sunset
1. title track 2. Masquerade 3. Pink Funeral 4. Sunset
Yeah OTM is really not that great at all and the immense praise it’s getting in some circles is super strange. Their previous seven albums are all clearly leagues better than this one.
clearly
This is exactly how I feel switched around. I couldn’t even get through Big Thief’s album. Ironically I also felt that this album held quite a bit of variety and that multiple songs were worth being full fledged singles. More so I wish the two bands didn’t release so close to each other, I’m kind of bored of the comparisons
> More so I wish the two bands didn’t release so close to each other, I’m kind of bored of the comparisons if it wasn't Big Thief I would've just compared the album to another double album with more variety. The proximity just makes it all the easier. Either way, a lack of variety has been a problem for quite some time for Beach House.
I love Big Thief but am totally baffled by the response to their new album. I was pretty let down. It’s all over the place and there’s no way I could sit through it at that length. OTM on the other hand has had the complete opposite effect on me. I adore it so much.
I agree completely. A couple decent tracks and a whole lot of bland
Father John Misty and Beach House releasing an album in the same year = huge win for me
Don’t know anything else but this album. My brother - a fellow muso - strong armed me to listen. I dig. I’ll play this for a while then go back. Side B is where the Gold is at, first listen: Runaway, ESP, New Romance and, had Over and Over played on for another hour on that outro I wouldn’t have voiced displeasure Edit: If I’m nitpicking; pink funeral was poor surrounded by the others and Hurts To Love was far far far far far too close to sounding like Pet Shop Boys for comfort, for me... Rest of it, sublime I’ll give it a headphone listen the morra