(Mistletone)

Baltimore duo make narcotic organ pop

Singer/organist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally comprise Beach House, a name that suits the music they make almost perfectly, redolent as it is of an overcast Sunday afternoon on a secluded Hawaiian shore. It has a clear lineage to the music of somnolent bands like Galaxie 500 and Spacemen 3; older listeners will remember that the latter group dissolved into Jason Pierce’s stoned rock & roll juggernaut Spiritualized, while Sonic Boom formed the more experimental and organ-based Spectrum. Beach House sit somewhere between the two, crafting stripped back, but reverb-heavy drone pop with tidal organ melodies, chintzy rhythms, and slide guitar. Legrand’s vocals border on the disinterested tones of Nico, hinting at a hidden sadness beneath the mask-like surface. They float over the opening track (and perfect scene-setter) Saltwater like a weary bird on an intercontinental flight. The lovely Apple Orchard tugs at heartstrings and eyelids with equal gravity, and Auburn & Ivory provides an almost mediaeval waltz, like a romance in the glow of flickering torchlight. It’s sublimely atmospheric, and yet so simply and directly constructed it doesn’t seem excessively pretentious. Definitely an album to curl up with on a rainy day.

TOPHER HEALY

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