Four albums deep into their career, and following the critical and commercial breakthrough of 2010’s Teen Dream, Beach House return with Bloom, an album which further perfects their collision of warm tones with a cold distance; euphoria with melancholy.
Opting for an artistic left turn or expanding their sonic palette was never really on the cards. Instead the duo perfect their approach, heady synth drones and reverb-laden guitar hooks; metronome drum loops and sultry, often soaring vocal hooks.
People who dismiss Beach House would describe their synth washes as one dimensional, however given the right mood; there are subtle shifts in texture and tone which reward repeated listens. The guitar and synth interplay in ‘Lazuli’ showcase deftness to the Beach House approach. It’s not just simple melodies and a warm bed of synth for them to rest on; there is depth to this sonic landscape.
‘Other People’ sounds like a more patient application of ‘Silver Soul’. ‘Troublemaker’ hints at a darker terrain. The album grows and swells, it flows as one great watercolour expanse.
Anyone who wasn’t drawn in by the instantly gratifying pop of Teen Dream isn’t likely to find anything here to entice them. Anyone who hitherto has enjoyed Beach House’s pastoral dream pop will no doubt fall in love once again.
