Dreampop purveyors Beach House did not disappoint with their newest album, Once Twice Melody . Released in four parts over three months, Once Twice Melody follows Beach House’s signature sad genre with layered vocals, melodic guitar, and ambient synths. It’s not an exaggeration to say the band appeals to depressed teenagers, but why? Beach House’s music creates a temporary space of vulnerability for the listener. Their trance inducing music intensifies every emotion within you. Once Twice Melody proves the band’s ability to connect you with your emotions.
Beach House’s abstract lyrics gave me space to get in touch with my feelings. The lyrics from the track “Through Me”, reads, “Sweet dreams inside me, Limits shifting, Colors living through me.” The lyric conveys the transcendental quality of love, how it evokes out-of-body experiences. Although I am not a romantic person, hearing these words still presented me with a world of raw, metaphysical aching. The track exposed me to unrecognizable pain, it was unknown to me music could induce these feelings. Only Beach House is able to compose albums that cause such intense reactions.
The most beautiful aspect of Beach House’s music is Victoria LeGrand’s voice, which balances both traditionally masculine and feminine tones. She showcases a lower voice in tracks like “Superstar” that emit a sense of warmth and comfort, and higher pitches in songs like “Only You Know” that feel magical and dainty. LeGrand’s operatic training matches perfectly with the dreamlike sounds of Beach House.
The combination of serene lyrics and androgynous vocals is what makes Once Twice Melody such emotionally heightening album. With this record, Beach House creates a sphere of overwhelming pain and nostalgia that leaves me defenseless to my feelings. I feel melancholy, euphoric, and intoxicated when I listen to Once Twice Melody, and that’s what makes this album so enchanting.
Beach House has yet again successfully created a misery-inducing album, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.