Beach House’s fifth album, Depression Cherry, is everything the name connotes. Recall the last time you bit into a depressing cherry. It looked sumptuous, glittering like so many worn away pebbles in the bowl of other cherries, but upon breaking off the stem and biting into it, you realized that this was going to be an overall sad experience. The album is dark but poppy-that’s what your narrator is trying to convey here.
Beach House possesses the ability to pair gloom with glitz in a package of bright black velvet. They present us with a gift that we can feel and hear but perhaps not fully understand, a package left unopened. Par exemple, “Days of Candy” is a Lynchian track with the repeated phrase, “I know it comes too soon.” Okay, Beach House. Okay.
The catchiest track on the album is (subjectively) Space Song, which is lengthy (5:15) but beautiful. Standout tracks include-frankly, I love the whole album. That sounds lazy, so let me break a few of the tracks down to the best of my ability.
“Sparks” is a single that starts off with a stoner pop (is that even a genre) feel that gently transitions via a superfun guitar overlay (which crescendos down, remaining throughout) into something like shoegaze.
“Bluebird” (another apt title) starts with an anxious hi-hat ratatat that maintains tension throughout. It’s a track with (of course) slowly sung lyrics that expertly weave through the instrumentals instead of disregarding or overpowering.
Present throughout Depression Cherry is the soothing drone, which gently reminds that each track is connected, and part of an overall larger story. Said story is a sad one, but certainly worth experiencing.
Depression Cherry totals about 46 minutes, and Sub Pop has been brilliant in uploading the full album to Youtube for streaming. With an incentive like that, not giving it a chance would be a crime (where you’re your own victim).