Depression Cherry

On May 15, 2012, Beach House released their fourth studio album Bloom,^[1] which was supported by the singles "Myth" and "Lazuli".^[2] Recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas,^[3] the album was met with critical acclaim from several music critics.^[4] It was also a commercial success, being their best-selling album on the US Billboard 200, debuting at number seven with 41,000 copies sold within its first week.^[5] In an August 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, when asked if the band were recording any new material, lead vocalist Victoria Legrand revealed that she instead thought about what she wanted to make within the next album.^[6] They further supported the album's success by releasing an accompanying short film consisting of live performances of songs from the album, Forever Still,^[7][8] and toured worldwide extensively throughout that year and 2013.^[9][10][11]

After finishing the supporting concert tours for Bloom, the group took a six-month break.^[12] Legrand added, "I just personally felt I needed a couple of months of just not doing anything, I didn't have thoughts."^[12] Uncertain about their future, singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand said, "I didn't feel creative at all... I just thought well, maybe I'll never have another musical idea."^[13] Legrand reflected on the "aggravated" usage of live drums during their song performances on the Bloom tours because of "the noise it creates and how much space it fills".^[12] Guitarist Alex Scally concurred, saying, "There was a transparent feeling, [the songs] didn't feel as nuanced."^[12] On May 26, 2015, the band announced their fifth studio album, Depression Cherry, additionally revealing its tracklist and album artwork.^[14]

Beach House came up with a portion of musical ideas for Depression Cherry in 2011,^[15] subsequently writing songs for the album in Baltimore, their hometown, between 2012 and 2014; "10:37" was one of the first songs to be written during this period.^[16][17] The album was recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana over two months, from November 2014 to January 2015.^[18][19] It was co-produced by Chris Coady, who worked on the band's previous two records, Teen Dream (2010) and Bloom.^[20] Prior to joining the band in the studio, they sent him phone recordings of some of their in-progress songs.^[16]

The band has also stated that they've incorporated live drums on their previous records, but then "[they] got tired of them" and had written the album without using them, as a way of "going back to [their] roots a little".^[17] For the recording of "Sparks", the band used a keyboard that they bought in Texas during the recording sessions for Bloom.^[21] Additionally, the song contains a running vocal loop that was "accidentally" captured at a soundcheck in Bristol, England.^[22] For the song "Days of Candy", they hired eight singers from Pearl River Community College to create a 24-part choir.^[23] After completing that song and "Levitation", the band knew they had the album's closing and opening tracks, respectively, and considered the record completed.^[16] The album was mixed at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California, except "Beyond Love", which was mixed at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas.^[24]

According to the band, Depression Cherry is a return to the simpler style of dream pop from their first two albums, stating in a press release on the Sub Pop website, that "live drums play [...] a far lesser role" and that within the album, they "continue to let ourselves evolve while fully ignoring the commercial context in which we exist".^[25] Kevin Warwick of The A.V. Club commented that several tracks from the album are "constructed on rudimentary programmed rhythms as opposed to live studio drumming".^[26] Tim Jonze of The Guardian also stated that the album "lacks the bigger pop moments of their last two albums, Bloom and Teen Dream", due to a lack of live drums, though he considered that the band "increase their impressive ability" with this musical approach.^[27][28] The album also relies on organ chords and slide guitar licks.^[29]

The album's opener, "Levitation", begins with a "high-F♯ drone" which crossfades into a "lovely saturated D chord", as well as a "tap-tapping electronic rhythm", with the song itself being said to succeed the 2012 track "Irene", featured on the band's previous album Bloom.^[30][31] It then progresses onto the following track, "Sparks", which begins with a vocal loop played at the start.^[32] The loop is then interrupted by a distorted guitar, thus being described as a shoegaze track.^[33] Throughout the entire song, a distorted organ and percussion are also used.^[34][35] Transitioning onto the third track, "Space Song", it opens with an organ sound and leaps into a sliding guitar and an "8-bit keyboard" arpeggio which run throughout the entire track.^[36][28] "Beyond Love", its fourth track, features a slide guitar and accompanying drum machine rhythms.^[37][29]

On May 26, 2015, Beach House announced Depression Cherry along with tour dates supporting the album.^[19] Vinyl and compact disc copies of the album feature a cover lined with red velvet, while a limited edition "Loser Edition" of the album was released on clear vinyl record.^[38] On June 26, Beach House announced on Twitter that they would perform "Sparks" on SiriusXMU on July 1, adding that it would be the lead single from Depression Cherry.^[39] The single was subsequently released and performed on SiriusXMU on the confirmed date,^[40] alongside the release of the song's accompanying visualizer, which was released on YouTube.^[21] On July 9, Depression Cherry was leaked on the internet through a data breach on music site Spin.^[41][42] On August 6, "PPP" and "Beyond Love" were previewed during an interview with WBUR-FM's Here and Now.^[43][44]

These two tracks, along with "Sparks", were later published through the band's website and could be accessed through the "Single Finder" feature, which allows a user to choose three songs, particularly their favorite ones, from the band's past catalog and depending on their choices, it determines which single would likely be their favorite.^[45][46] On August 19, nine days before the album's release, NPR Music made a stream of the album available online.^[47] The album was released on August 28, 2015, for digital download, CD, LP and cassette formats, though Sub Pop in North America^[25] and Bella Union in Europe.^[48] The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, with 27,000 copies sold in its first week.^[49] It also debuted within the top 20 in eight other countries, which are Belgium's Flanders region (13),^[50] Canada (16),^[51] Denmark (20),^[52] Netherlands (16),^[53] Portugal (12),^[54] Scotland (18),^[52] and the United Kingdom (17).^[55] About two months later, on October 7 of the same year, Beach House announced their sixth studio album Thank Your Lucky Stars, which was stated to be a follow-up, but not a companion, to Depression Cherry or a "surprise or B-sides".^[56][57] The follow-up album was additionally written from July to November 2014 and recorded at the same time as Depression Cherry.^[58]

"Space Song", the album's third track, was initially released as a promotional single in 2015.^[59] The song became a sleeper hit, when about six years later, in 2021, the song attained virality on TikTok and later received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 2022.^[59][60] The song was later featured in the Netflix-original television series Wednesday (2022), appearing in its third episode.^[61] After its appearance on the series, the song earned over four million streams in the United States, within the November 25–December 1, 2022, tracking week.^[62] Following the tracking week, it debuted at number 20 on the US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart,^[62] later peaking at nunber 13 on the chart the following week.^[63] On April 12, 2023, the song was certified double-platinum by the RIAA, for sales of 2,000,000 certified units in the United States.^[60] On March 6, 2026, Depression Cherry received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for sales of 1,000,000 certified units in the United States.^[64]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[65]
Metacritic	76/100[66]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[27]
The A.V. Club	A−[26]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[67]
The Guardian	[28]
The Irish Times	[68]
NME	5/10[69]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[31]
Q	[70]
Rolling Stone	[71]
Spin	8/10[72]

Close

Depression Cherry received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics, with a majority complimenting its musical arrangements and direction, while some criticism drew towards its repetitive structures.^[73] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 34 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[66] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.^[65]

Eric Renner Brown of Entertainment Weekly complimented Legrand's vocal structures and the instrumentals within the album, calling them "exquisite".^[67] Awarding the album with the "Best New Music" accolade, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork praised the album's instrumentals, classifying them as "ethereal", and concluded that the band had "never sounded exactly this full and soaring before".^[31] Tim Jonze of The Guardian stated that the album "lacks the bigger pop moments of their last two albums, Bloom and Teen Dream", although he approves the band's musical approach and stated that the band "increase their impressive ability to sound like they’re whispering each song".^[28]

AllMusic's Heather Phares likened the album's musical approach to the band's earlier studio albums and said that it's "a grower that demands and rewards close listening -- especially under headphones".^[27] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone called it "A formula that might seem limiting feels instead like it can contain entire worlds".^[71] In a mixed review, John Calvert of NME claimed that the album can "becoming increasingly uninteresting", though he further stated that "the duo stick closely to their signature steady pacing and two-piece dynamic, with diminishing returns".^[69]

All lyrics written by Victoria Legrand; all music composed and arranged by Beach House.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Depression Cherry.^[24]

Beach House

• Alex Scally
• Victoria Legrand