[Ed. Note: Remember Lin from KR Goes Global? Well she’s still looking for great non-Western bands to blog about for us, but in the meantime we couldn’t resist having her review the much-anticipated and highly publicized Beach House release. So, this review is not written by Lee as the byline up top says, but rather by Lin herself. Enjoy, and visit her blog “Rock Loves Romantic”, here.]
By Lin Lizhuang
In Flann O’Brien’s novel, The Third Policeman, there is a mention of a mystical chamber called the “eternity”, which when entered, time would stand still, you would not age and you could have all the pleasures in the world you desire. However, you are not allowed to carry any of the comforts that the chamber presents to you over to the real world, for you are to leave it in the same state that you entered it in. Yet, the characters are fascinated by the chamber. The fantasy was at once mind blowing, vexatious and a tasteful play at the powerful seduction of escapism.
Listening to Beach House’s Teen Dream is like a taking a short vacation to the chamber of “eternity”; it’s a delicate, slow dancing reverie, where every beat and rhythm is positively made of time itself. Victoria Legrand’s calm and almost procrastinating vocals would have you feel as though you’ve been trapped in a capsule where everything moves gracefully in slow motion and youth is tangible and not slipping through your fingers.
“Walk In The Park” makes you think that your life is rolling along on a more grandiose scale with its obsessive, impregnable organs, while “10 Mile Stereo” brings a tear to your eye with its woeful and meandering guitars. Then the album reaches its rousing finale in “Take Care”, which perfectly exemplifies the whole listening experience:
“It is real then it is fake,
Feel its heartbeat
Feel what you heed
So fast it feels too late”
In the course of listening to the album, you indulge yourself in ideas of love, regret and longing and luxuriate in the pleasures of an uncomplicated heartache or two. But when it ends, you’ll just turn off the stereo and go on with your lives, throwing all those romantic sentiments behind because it would be frowned upon in the real world.
Beach House – “Norway” [MP3]
i never thought the cubicle i spend the better part of my LIFE in (ugh) could be referred to as a “mystical chamber.” today it is one indeed, as i listen to this record over and over again. your review is exquisite; the comparisons made and images conjured are poignant ones that only a true aficionado can pull off in written form (and have the reader believe it). cheers.
thanks!
[Your comment was a bit too short. Please go back and try again]—> WTH? why can’t i say a simple, uncomplicated word of thanks?