Acclaimed dream-pop duo Beach House will roll into the Spanish Moon on Saturday night on the heels of its new album, “Teen Dream.”The pair — Alex Scally and vocalist Victoria Legrand — hails from Baltimore and combines fluid percussion with delicate piano and hazy reverb into a wholly unique sound.”Teen Dream,” the band’s third album, is its most fully realized effort to date, featuring 10 tracks of melancholy, soaring melodies and lush beauty.”The writing process for the record was eight to nine months of intense writing in Baltimore, and then we headed to upstate New York for three weeks,” Legrand said.There the band worked with heralded New York City producer Chris Coady, who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Grizzly Bear, and recorded the bulk of “Dream” in an old church.”We had more time with this record, so through the entire process, we were able to get our vision across for this record,” Legrand said.A DVD featuring a music video for every song on the album is included in the packaging of “Dream.” A different director produced each video.”The videos have been something we wanted to do for a long time, and they are meant as a visual complement and an artistic expansion of the songs from the record,” Legrand said. Legrand, whose gorgeous vocals may be the most appealing aspect of the band’s sound, also noted the band’s move to the Sub-Pop label allowed them to explore various challenges, including the DVD.”The idea of the DVD was always this artistic idea that we’ve had, but with a label like Sub-Pop putting out ‘Teen Dream,’ that has added this extra facet to our album’s package.” Legrand said. Beach House, fresh off a performance at Coachella Music Festival last weekend, has a healthy live reputation, playing more than 300 shows, including two in Baton Rouge, in four years of touring.Legrand credited the rigorous touring for the band’s expanded vision on “Dream.””We’re very comfortable touring, and it has helped us grow as performers and musicians,” Legrand said. “We love the exchange between the audience and ourselves because we learn a lot from those interactions.”The songs on “Dream” are more sonically expansive and louder than Beach House’s prior tracks, but Legrand said the songs have only enhanced the band’s live set.”The songs are really fun to play live, and they’ve been refined from many trials during past concerts,” Legrand said. “They have this movement and motion to them that has intensified our live performances.”The title of the album and the feel of the songs bear an uncanny connection, which Legrand called an “open invitation” for listeners.”There’s a lot of energy in the songs and that helps people form the connection themselves.” Legrand said. “The words just fell out of my mouth, and we knew instantly that it fit with what we had created with this record.”Beach House gets to show off this synergy Saturday night at the Spanish Moon, and a sold-out crowd awaits.The show begins at 9 p.m., and woozy, synthpop act Washed Out will open for Beach House.Follow Chris Abshire on Twitter @TDR_CAbshire.____Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]
Dream-pop duo to play Spanish Moon
April 21, 2010