Beach House – Bloom (45rpm Vinyl 2LP)

Bloom is the fourth full-length album by Beach House. Like their previous releases, Beach House (2006), Devotion (2008), and Teen Dream (2010), it further develops their distinctive sound yet stands apart as a new piece of work. The landscape of Bloom was largely designed on the road, between the countless sound checks and myriad experiences during two years of touring. Throughout this period, melodies, chords, rhythms, words and textures surfaced in moments of their own choosing. These spontaneous ideas were later gathered and developed in Baltimore, MD where the band members Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand live and work.

Bloom was then recorded in late 2011 over a period of seven weeks at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX and mixed for another two at Electric Lady in NC. Bloom is meant to be experienced as an album.  “Many songs were omitted or dropped because they lacked a place within our vision for this album,” notes Scally. Though not stripped down, the many layers of Bloom are uncomplicated and meticulously constructed to ensure that there is no waste. Each chord and melody performs its role to form a whole.

The songs have depth and reveal themselves in new ways through repeated listenings. As a complete work, Bloom transcends the banality of simple emotions and arrives at a realm of honesty and complexity. It soberly reveals how frightening and temporary, yet beautiful, our existence is. It creates an honest reflection of death, as it must to relate to life. To this Legrand adds, “Bloom is a journey. For me, it is about the irreplaceable power of imagination as it relates to the intense experience of living. A bloom is only temporary, a fleeting vision of life in all of its intensity and color, beautiful even if only for a moment.”