Nothing much happens on the second album from this Baltimore, Maryland duo, but it all unfolds so beautifully you would be hard-pressed to complain. Using slow-motion rhythms, ghostly vocals and dreamy carnival organs in its attempt to pull together a set of vaporous melodies, the band comes up with a spellbinding collection of songs that in its best moments recalls the hazy wonder of dream-pop predecessors the Velvet Underground and Mazzy Star. Singer Victoria Legrand is the niece of famed soundtrack composer Michel, which could explain why so many of the songs--especially standouts like "D.A.R.L.I.N.G." and "Heart of Chambers"--have such a convincingly cinematic feel. Hopefully, the producers at HBO are listening. “4 stars. With Devotion, Beach House prove once again that they're one of the more strangely named bands around. Their music is so lonely, so haunting, that the only beach house it evokes is a deserted one, stranded on a winter night so desolate that summer isn't even a memory. Then again, that atmosphere is precisely what made Beach House's self-titled debut so striking, and Devotion is even more so, since Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally bring more focus, depth, and warmth to their unmistakable sound. Like Beach House, Devotion sounds like it was made for, and possibly in, the dead of night. This time, though, Beach House's dark moods have more shades, and even a little bit of light, making them all the more compelling.”-AMG.
 Song #1 - mp3 |
