Beach House: Devotion

Label: Carpark

We knew Baltimore’s Beach House was going places after their excellent debut from two years ago, but nothing prepared us for this. Expanding on the skeletal feel of their first record, Beach House’s Devotion pays attention to space and atmosphere in a way that’s hard to find in the context of orchestrated pop music. Vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand loosely guides us through songs languid, nervous and pastoral, all piecing together into a drifty, reverb-seeped whole. Her off-kilter lyrics occasionally sift to the surface, only to melt back into the beautiful well of sound. Moments like the perfectly realized “You Came To Me” and a haunting cover of Daniel Johnson’s “Some Things Last a Long Time” are perfect examples of the evocative nature of the album, occupying a musical space much like a lucid dream, allowing your mind to wander not away from the music, but with the music. (Fred)