Teen Dream

Teen Dream by Beach House

Beach House is a dream-pop duo from Baltimore that was formed in 2004. The band released their debut self titled album in 2006 and immediately received rave reviews for it, being hailed as one of the best albums of the year. Their follow up was highly anticipated and certainly didn't let anyone down in terms of quality. So now that the picture has been painted here is the band's third release, and surely the dream pop thing can only be done so many times while being innovative right? Wrong. This band amazingly continues to change up the game with each album while still staying true to the sound that brought them all of the acclaim in the first place. Teen Dream is the bands first release on Sub Pop and even though it was leaked way back in November this album is still the talk of the internet and rightfully so, seeing as it's already getting hailed as a possible album of the year.

However all of this praise is certainly justifiable. Upon the first listening of this album it's hard to digest all that just happened. I found myself a bit disappointed that it was already over in all honesty. The duo creates their spacey, dreamy sounds and it is complimented very well by the soothing voice of Victoria Legrand. The music feels almost unsuitable for the lyrics in a sense, which makes it all the more devastating when Victoria sings out "In a matter of time you will slip from my mind" and "Your hand that you sometimes hold doesn't do anything" in 'Walk in the Park'. This is a recurring theme throughout the album, when reading the lyrics to these songs one wouldn't think that it's the lyrics to a song that opens with a cheesy drum machine track. However, this isn't a criticism, this is a compliment to the band. The feel of the music as compared to the lyrics adds to the effect of it and cuts you that much deeper when you hear "I'll take care of you, If you ask me to" in the album closer "Take Care". It's the theme of longing that makes the album title that much clearer, Teen Dream. The emotion felt in Victoria's voice certainly makes this album that much more to digest, the way that her voice resounds so strongly while singing out these heartfelt lyrics puts the nail into the coffin, in a good way.

To sum it all up, there isn't a weak moment in the entire album of Teen Dream. The whole thing flows together so perfectly that you wish that it would never end. I've said this before but when I do I usually mean it. Teen Dream is one of the first albums this year that jumped out at me as a true album of the year candidate, even if it's only the first month into 2010. Teen Dream is an album that cements this band as one of the top names out there, and deservingly so seeing as they've put out album after album of absolutely mind-blowing material. For such a young band, Beach House is certainly steaming through the industry and if their next album continues on the uprising progression then I can't wait to see what is to come from Beach House.

Rating: 9.5/10

Standout Tracks: "Zebra", "Norway", "Walk in the Park", "Take Care"

And for the record I'm now going on a .5 scale since I've noticed that there are getting to be far too many 8 and 9 albums.