Beach House (album)

In 2004, lead vocalist Victoria Legrand moved from Paris to Baltimore after being dissatisfied with theater school,^[1] and because someone who went to Vassar College, where she graduated from, was living there as well.^[2] That same year, she met guitarist Alex Scally, who grew up in the city, through a mutual friend.^[3] Both of them were also in a band at the time, Daggerhearts, which would later disband in 2005 due to "dysfunctionality".^[4] After the disbandment, both members decided to create music together, wanting to form a band. He invited Legrand to his house to try a variety of organs he had used on 4-track recordings, kept in storage, and both got along well.^[5] Aside from bonding over music, Scally worked with his father as a carpenter, while Legrand worked as a waiter at a Mexican restaurant.^[6][7]

They began recording their first album over a two-day period in 2005 in Scally's basement, relying on a 4-track recording tape.^[8][9][3] During this time, they had used several organs and a guitar to develop their sound.^[10] The budget for the recording process was reportedly about $1,000.^[11] The duo wrote their first song, "Saltwater," during a hangout at Scally's house, where he played random chords. He described it as an "insanely natural thing."^[12] Inspiration for their band name came from "House on the Hill," one of the songs recorded for the album.^[2] Several songs were written during the summer of that year, with the high temperatures at the time making the process "go slower".^[2] In August 2006, album track "Apple Orchard" was featured as the 34th entry on Pitchfork's Infinite Mixtape series, before its official release.^[13] This would help them gain an adequate amount of international recognition.^[14]

Beach House has been described as a dream pop^[15][16] and indie pop record,^[17][18] with slight lo-fi^[19] and shoegaze influences.^[18] Legrand's vocals throughout the album were likened to Nico and Hope Sandoval,^[20][21] while the overall sound arrangements being likened to the musical style of bands such as Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Spiritualized and Slowdive.^[22] The opening track, "Saltwater", is a lazy, drifting song built on scratchy, low-key synthetic beats that got "flooded with softly spreading guitar distortion and incandescent organ". "Master of None" has a "more radiant synths and dreamy guitar rolling out over a slightly funkier rhythm."^[16] "Auburn And Ivory" is a siren-song of 60's psychedelia and classical influences that's a duller, more stoney take on The Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire".^[18] "Childhood" is "the most upbeat song on the album, and it's one of the warmest."^[18] Album closer "Heart and Lungs" features a piano-relying hidden track after a rough minute of silence.^[23] This hidden track was later known as "Rain in Numbers", and was featured on the duo's compilation album B-Sides and Rarities (2017).^[24]

Beach House was "quietly"^[2] released on October 3, 2006, through Carpark Records and Bella Union.^[20] Before releasing the album, Scally expected it to sell about 500 copies.^[25] Three days later, on October 6, the duo announced on their website that a music video for "Master of None" was being filmed, stating that it would also feature people from their hometown, Baltimore.^{[‡ 1]} In January 2007, the band released said music video for "Master of None".^[26] In the following month, February, they announced the album's official release through Mistletone Records in Australia, along with a confirmation that new songs were being written.^{[‡ 2]} They released another video for the track in July 2007, which coincided with the official release of the album in the United Kingdom.^[27] A year after the album's release, in October 2007, the album saw an availability on white vinyl by HeartBreakBeat Records.^[28] In 2010, the album had a remastered reissue by HeartBreakBeat with a run limited to 1,000 copies on black vinyl.^[29] In 2012, a pressing on special edition white vinyl was released through Bella Union.^[30] By April of that same year, Beach House had sold 24,000 copies in United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.^[11]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[31]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[32]
Gigwise	[33]
The Guardian	[21]
The Line of Best Fit	6.9/10[34]
Now	[35]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[22]
Rolling Stone	[36]
Stylus Magazine	B+[37]

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Upon release, Beach House was received well by contemporary music critics.^[2] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[31] In a positive review Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork said that the album evoked a "recipe of fairground waltzes, ghosted lullabies, and woodland hymnals".^[22] The website also included the album at number sixteen on their list of the top 50 albums of 2006.^[38] MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic said the album is "one of the most mystical indie-pop surprises to arrive in 2006."^[17] Jordan Dowling of Drowned in Sound stated that it is an album "that yearns for a simpler life, for an existence always tinted rose and viewed through eyes misted by joyous tears".^[32] Giving the album a positive review, Lost at Sea said the album was "made for gray days indoors or late August afternoons spent lying in golden fields staring at blue skies," while comparing it to Yo La Tengo's album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out.^[18]

Almost Cool said "it sounds like a late summer album, but it's just dark enough that I bet it will sound nice looking out the window to a dusting of snow on the ground as well."^[16] Dusted Magazine said it is "a dream of an album."^[23] Sarah Liss of Now called it a "solid debut,"^[35] while Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian called it "deeply atmospheric, and occassionally stirring."^[21] Sullivan also stated that "[Auburn and Ivory] proves that atmosphere isn't enough to carry a whole album."^[21] Some critics also regarded the impossibility of finding song highlights within the album. Rich Hughes of The Line of Best Fit explained that "A slight shifting of the tempo would serve to make this a more memorable record but, due to it's [sic] shortness, the few highlights that are here are worthy of your attention."^[34] In a mixed review, Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone said that "finding the best bits in these sleepy songs [within the album] often feels like hard work."^[36]

Beach House adapted British folk trio Tony, Caro and John's song "Snowdon Song" on the album, changing the key and time signature, altering the lyrics and renaming it to "Lovelier Girl," with the trio given no attribution. Four years after the album's release, specifically around the time during the release of the band's third studio album, Teen Dream (2010), the trio contacted them. After amicable discussions on copyright, the authorship of the "Lovelier Girl" version of the song is now jointly attributed to Beach House and Tony Doré of the trio.^[25]

The song "Master of None" was sampled by Canadian singer The Weeknd for his song "The Party & The After Party" off his 2011 debut mixtape House of Balloons.^[39] The song was also used in the Netflix show of the same name,^[40] as well as featuring in Miranda July's 2011 German-American drama film The Future.^[41]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Beach House.^[42]

Beach House

• Victoria Legrand – vocals, various instruments
• Alex Scally – various instruments

Production

• Rob Girardi – recording, mixing
• Adam Cooke – recording
• Rusty Santos – mastering
• Elizabeth Flyntz – photography