Coming out of relative obscurity to release their self-titled 2006 debut, Beach House have been developing songs fleshed out with a warm fuzz of analogue synthesizers and reverberating sonic space. Theirs are songs that are both eerie and succinctly comforting.
With 'Teen Dream', their first full-length record on new label Sub Pop, they have created a varied and versatile body of work that outshines both their self-titled debut and 2008's follow-up 'Devotion'.
On display here is a newly developed sense of dynamics that lends the songs both a new sense of power at their echoing highs and a greater feeling of immediacy during the record's more relaxed moments.
Lead single 'Norway' is full of chiming arpeggios and hushed female vocal coos reminiscent of 'Victorialand' era Cocteau Twins or the quieter side of Asobi Seksu. The introduction of Alex Scally's voice transforms the song as it builds up to transcendent chants of "Norway!" in one of the record's most affecting moments.
The arsenal of synths and organs employed on 'Teen Dream' soak the album's ten tracks in an inherently lo-fi fuzz that permeates their aural landscape and adds to their substance. This creates a sense of warmth and fullness that allows the band to avoid the icier side of dream pop associated with key influences of theirs such as Galaxie 500 and Mazzy Star.
The duo's frequent use of lo-fi sounds is also the album's greatest downfall, they tread dangerously close to crossing the line between consistency and over-similarity across the course of the record. This almost damages the upheavals the band have made in terms of structural and dynamic diversity on 'Teen Dream'.
This is an album that brims with moments of delicate beauty from the ethereal balladry of 'Real Love' to the resilient yet low-key murmuring of "Coming home any day now" on 'Used To Be'. Beach House are taking dream pop into the 21st century in a way just as thrilling as their predecessors on classic labels such as 4AD in the genre's 80s heyday.
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