Beach House
Thank Your Lucky Stars
[Sub Pop]
Listening to Beach House’s surprise-release sixth album, you have to wonder just what Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand were thinking ten years ago, while writing their first record. It’s not hard to imagine them scribbling notes in a gargantuan, decade-spanning diary, mapping out their career to the present day. ‘Oct. 16th, 2015: Pick up dry cleaning before lunch. Release Thank Your Lucky Stars. Book tickets for The Force Awakens.’ The assuredness with which they’ve built on the groundwork of their debut points towards a grand plan.
The thread that runs through their discography is clear, and has certainly left their releases open to the view that they are all more or less variations on a theme. Really, though, the defined borders of Beach House’s sonic palette are one of their greatest strengths. The comfort and confidence with which they operate yields gratifying results on Lucky Stars. The suppressed tension of early highlight All Your Yeahs is immediately followed by the steady, five-minute pure exhalation of One Thing, and together they form a remarkable one-two specimen of the benefits of Beach House’s approach. No one element is unfamiliar, but the sum is unexpected and remarkable – what we have is an album that is enriched by, and in turn enriches, all of its predecessors.
And the best part is that Beach House know exactly where to go from here. They’ve got it all written down, remember? Heck, they already know if Luke’s turned to the dark side.
Like this? Try these:
Widowspeak – Almanac
Wye Oak – Shriek
Sleep Thieves – Islands
