Beach House is Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand and Bloom is the band's fourth full-length album. Like their previous releases (Beach House in 2006, Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010), it further develops their distinctive sound yet stands apart as a new piece of work. The landscape of Bloom was largely designed on the road, between the countless sound checks and myriad experiences during two years of tour. Throughout this period, melodies, chords, rhythms, words, and textures surfaced in moments of their own choosing. These spontaneous ideas were later gathered and developed in Baltimore, Maryland where the band lives and works.
Bloom was then recorded in late 2011 over a period of seven weeks at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX and mixed for another two at Electric Lady in NYC. The band co-produced the record with Chris Coady.
Bloom is meant to be experienced as an ALBUM. It offers a singular, unified vision of the world. "Many songs were omitted or dropped because they lacked a place within our vision for this album," notes Scally. Though not stripped down, the many layers of Bloom are uncomplicated and meticulously constructed to ensure that there is no waste. Each chord and melody performs its role to form a whole. The songs have depth and reveal themselves in new ways through repeated listening. As a complete work, Bloom transcends the banality of simple emotions and arrives at a realm of honesty and complexity. It soberly reveals how frightening and temporary, yet beautiful, our existence is. It creates an honest reflection of death, as it must to relate to life. To this Legrand adds, "Bloom is a journey. For me, it is about the irreplaceable power of imagination as it relates to the intense experience of living. A bloom is only temporary... a fleeting vision of life in all its intensity and color, beautiful even if only for a moment."
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Reviews
"To revel in: weightless pop from the Baltimore duo." (Rolling Stone, May 2012)
"Bloom really roars in places, shoegazing even.(...)This is an overtly produced record, not simply a recorded one." (musikexpress, June 2012)
"... an album like a melancholic midsummer night's dream." (Audio, July 2012)
,"Beach House stay true to themselves - that works." (stereoplay, July 2012)
