Beach House – Depression Cherry

You have to admire a band that sees dreaming as a matter of principle. Beach House’s fifth album shows the Baltimore duo turning back the clock with a minimalist collection of songs that meditate on transience and loss. Opener Levitation is accurately named, reintroducing the instantly recognisable sound of Alex Scally’s circular guitar arpeggios and Victoria Legrand’s dusky voice over a ticking drum machine. ‘You will grow too quick, then you will get over it,’ Legrand comments over icy keyboards. 

This isn’t to say that they're at a creative standstill, however: Sparks takes a sleepy vocal from Legrand and suspends it throughout the whole song, the pair running over it with an unexpectedly blazing guitar line and wheezy organ. It’s easy to fall into the effortless lull of these songs, from Space Song’s psychedelic carousel of futuristic bleeps and 10:37’s moody harmonies to Scally’s slide guitar solo in the waltzy PPP. A glorious hit of nostalgia.  [Chris Ogden]