Like the majority of their fans in Europe, my attention was drawn to Beach House through their second album, the 2008 breakthrough “Devotion”. A record that for me felt slightly transitional sonically, but still always made for great listening.

Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Beach House consist of core duo Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand, the latter originally a native of France. Since the success of “Devotion”, the duo have busied themselves touring globally, with notable contributions to the Twilight soundtrack and guest vocals on Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” occupying their creative urges.
Teen Dream is Beach House’s third full length release but their first on the Sub Pop label and sees a notable evolution in their sound. Recorded under the watchful eye of engineer Chris Coady whose production work includes Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear, Teen Dream expands on the ideas suggested in previous albums and arrives at a point of fully formed subtle beauty. If “Devotion” was the sound of a band on a journey, then surely in Teen Dream we are witnessing a band arriving at their planned destination, and what a glorious place they have brought us to.
Understated guitars and keyboards are layered with acute discipline and sensitivity in songs like Zebra and Silver Soul where atmosphere is always key to events. The slow rhythms are keenly aware of the voice that pulls them forward never venturing to be overly playful to distract from the songs essence’.  And whilst on the surface it’s all breezy dream pop, a grave darkness lurks beneath maintaining a balance in depth.
The minimalist haze continues on the single “Norway” which sounds like My Bloody Valentine covering Fleetwood Mac, a strange concept I know, but the result works effortlessly.  Other highlights include “Used to be” with it’s nursery rhyme punctuation and “Lover of mine” whose hypnotic beats and gorgeous vocals end up sounding like a futuristic Velvet Underground, in a good way, a very good way.
The intense imagery conjured up in the lyrics range from a simple nostalgic observance to the often boldly abstract, Lines like "Running around 'cause you beat yourself up, and you made a crack and the one that you love is gone" might be regarded as throwaway if a lesser band were behind it, but it resonates with feeling and earnestness in this setting and time after time, it's Victoria Legrand's haunting delivery that makes the experience so magical. The passion and sincerity she possesses in her vocal execution is constantly captivating and gives life to seemingly dull sentences. I don't think I'm overstating it when I say Miss Legrand's presence is the vital ingredient of Beach House and I'd be the first to admit that it's an injustice to try to describe her presence here in mere words. You must hear it for yourself to fully comprehend the gravity of her effortless brilliance. The album's final track "Take Care" offers a maternal warmth with its cradle rock tempo and closing refrain of "I'll take care of you",  thus ensuring a magnificent finale to a very pleasing 48 minutes of music.
Admittedly when I first listened to this album, I was impressed but not blown away, but I kept finding myself drawn back to it for another listen and it just kept getting better and better. For the majority of Teen Dream, it’s a very stripped down mix of guitar, keyboards and drums making all the sounds, So how an album so apparently simple manages to reveal more hidden layers with every listen baffles me. And it’s this unknown quantity, this mystical growing appeal that makes the whole affair feel rather special indeed. With Teen Dream, Beach House have created a record that feels like a living, breathing organism that befriends you. It tells you its darkest secrets and in some strange way, it seems as if it wants to listen back to your darkest secrets too.
Teen Dream is an early contender for album of the year in my book and it’s easily the best thing to come out of Baltimore since, “The Wire”. And similar to its TV counterpart it will not cater to everyone’s tastes nor will it beg for your affections, but if you are drawn to it out of curiosity and give it the time that it deserves, it will reward you time and time again. The Guardian’s Charlie Brooker once uttered of said TV show “I’m jealous of anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, because they get to discover it anew”. Well that pretty much sums up how I feel about this album.