Beach House
Beach House is an American indie band formed in Baltimore in 2004 by current members Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their work is characterized by a hypnotic dream pop style.[1]
For beach-side real estate, see Beach house. For other uses, see Beach House (disambiguation).
Beach House
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to critical acclaim and has been followed by Devotion (2008), Teen Dream (2010), Bloom (2012), Depression Cherry (2015), Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015), 7 (2018), and Once Twice Melody (2022).
Scoring projects[edit]
Scoring and collaboration with Meow Wolf[edit]
In 2021, Beach House collaborated with Meow Wolf, an immersive arts production company based in Santa Fe, NM.[64] The band scored a short film called Marin's Dreams and created soundscapes for Meow Wolf's new permanent installation in Las Vegas called Omega Mart.[65] The band composed music for three rooms within the installation — "Upload Ghost," a sculpture designed by Stephen Hendee, "Goblin Computer," and "Marin and Rose's Dwelling."[66]
Composing trailers for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival[edit]
Beach House scored three trailers that ran before each film screening at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.[66][67]
Along for the Ride (2022)[edit]
In March 2022, it was announced that Beach House would provide the score to Sofia Alvarez's Netflix film Along for the Ride.[68]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Beach House is most often labeled as a dream pop band. The group's success in the late 2000s solidified the popularity of the dream pop subgenre with millennial listeners.[69] Earlier material heard on Beach House, Devotion, and Teen Dream has also been described as indie pop and lo-fi.[70] Their later material has increasingly incorporated electronic textures.[71] They have also been described as a shoegaze act.[71]
Singer Victoria Legrand's vocals have often been compared to those of Nico.[72] Some music outlets have also compared Legrand's vocals to 1980s psychedelic rock vocalist Kendra Smith of the band Opal. Guitarist Alex Scally plays a Fender Stratocaster guitar in an E♭ Tuning. The group's influences include This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, The Zombies, Brian Wilson, Françoise Hardy, Neil Young, Big Star, Tony, Caro and John and Chris Bell.
Beach House re-recorded the Tony, Caro and John song "Snowdon Song" and renamed it "Lovelier Girl". The song was released on the band's self-titled album with no attribution. Initially, Tony Dore of Tony, Caro and John stated, "I haven't seen much yet in terms of royalties or acknowledgement of authorship". Several months later, however, Dore disclosed that discussions had taken place to apply proper attribution on re-releases of the self-titled album.[73]
Legrand has described creating new music and releasing albums as a necessity for the band, saying, "When we decide that a record is finished, I think it's really about coming to terms with saying 'OK, I think we've done everything that we could do, and now it's time to let these things go.' Because if we hold onto them, we might destroy them or they might never come out. There are all different types of artists and I think that some people like to hold onto things and they get very perfectionistic. But perfectionism is kind of a synonym for destruction. It can really be a deterrent for one's evolution. Alex and I have always felt that putting records out is very necessary. It's a gut feeling we have."[74]
Beach House's music has been sampled by prominent hip-hop and R&B artists. In 2011, The Weeknd sampled "Master of None" and "Gila" in his songs "The Party & the After Party" and "Loft Music," respectively.[75] Kendrick Lamar sampled "Silver Soul" for his hit "Money Trees."[75] The rap group G-Side sampled "10 Mile Stereo" in their song "How Far."[76]
Beach House has also inspired songs and musicians. Pop duo The Chainsmokers wrote "Beach House" as an ode to listening to Beach House.[77] Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips listed Beach House's album Bloom as one of the ten records that changed his life.[78]
Live performances[edit]
The band has toured extensively worldwide. Of touring, Legrand stated: "[W]e love touring. That's when you get to get into a rhythm, playing every night. It can be really fun. And I think you learn where you want to go with your music."[79]
Beach House is famous for its visual-heavy live shows that elevate their sound to a new level. Scally believes that playing live music is the best way to connect with fans. The band's innovation in tour décor began with lightboxes with disco balls in them that Scally and Legrand made for their first tour.[80]
In March 2009, the band was featured at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.[81] In April 2010, the band performed at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California. In June 2010, the band surmounted "technical difficulties due to too much MDMA" while playing a set on The Park Stage at Glastonbury.[82] In August 2010, the band joined Vampire Weekend on tour as one of their two opening acts, the other being the Dum Dum Girls. In October 2010, Beach House played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. On December 20, 2010, the band performed on Conan.
The band was chosen by Animal Collective to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival they curated in May 2011,[83] and also by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.[84] On May 29, 2011, the band played at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. On July 31, 2011, the band played at the Fuji Rock music festival in Niigata, Japan. On October 16, 2011, the band played at the Treasure Island Music Festival. On May 18, 2012, they appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and on Sunday, July 15, 2012, they performed the closing set on the Red Stage during the Pitchfork Music Festival.
In May 2012, the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland[85] playing "Myth" and "Lazuli" from their 2012 album, Bloom.
On July 26, 2012, they performed the Bloom cuts "Wild" and "Wishes" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
On October 17, 2015, the band performed "One Thing" from their album Thank Your Lucky Stars (which debuted the same night) on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Beach House performed at Coachella 2016[86] as well as Pickathon 2016 outside of Portland, Oregon[87] and FYF Fest 2016 in Los Angeles, California. On July 15, 2016, the band headlined the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois.[88] On August 13 the band played at the Eaux Claires music festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.[89]
"I believe that our show now with 7 material, visually and musically, is the best it's ever been. It evolved over a long period of time and it's a vision now. At first, it was just an idea, but now it's an experience…. We want to make people leave themselves. Any good artistic experience is like that," adds Scally.[80]
In March 2018, the band announced an extensive tour itinerary that started at the end of April in the States and took them through the fall to Europe.[90] In August 2019, Beach House added new tour dates in the US, including stops in Burlington and Cleveland, as well as Grand Rapids and Milwaukee, appearing at Osheaga festival in Montreal, Psycho Fest in Las Vegas, and Bellwether Music Festival in Waynesville, OH.
Studio albums