Beach House ‘Once Twice Melody’: Album Review

Hazy synths and hypnotic vocals characterise ‘Once Twice Melody’, Beach House’s most ambitious project yet.

Baltimore dream pop duo Victoria Legrand (vocals/keyboard) and Alex Scally (guitar), better known as Beach House, are to release their brand-new album ‘Once Twice Melody’ on February 18th. The double-sided record is their lengthiest yet, exploring the theme of fantasy vs. reality over a delightful 84 minutes.

Once Twice Melody’s slow release has followed an unusual pattern; the band opting to drop ‘chapters’ monthly, rather than singles every now-and-then. The first collection of songs hit streaming services mid-November, followed by chapter two just a few weeks later. Chapter three, which came out last Wednesday, comprises five new tracks: ‘Sunset’, ‘Only You Know’, ‘Another Go Around’, ‘Masquerade’ and ‘Illusion of Forever’, while the last instalment will come alongside next month’s full release.

Beach House’s Scally and Legrand perform in London, 2018.

Though it’s only three-quarters out, Once Twice Melody’s first hour is a psychedelic trip, aided by ‘Loveless’ sound engineer Alan Moulder, and accompanied by a live string ensemble. The record’s ethereal soundscape owes itself to sweeping 80s-infused synthesisers; cinematic bursts into orchestral grandeur; and heavenly vocals from Legrand, who performs as if she were a mother nursing her child to sleep. Listeners are infantilised, reassured by warm drones blanketed in fuzzy reverb, that everything will be okay.

The album’s healing powers are personified by tracks like ‘ESP’, on which Legrand gently murmurs over a faraway guitar solo that evokes a moon-age rendition of The Beatles’ ‘Something’; and ‘Sunset’, a comforting dream pop/country blend, depicting ‘golden fans across the land’ and setting the scene for the escapist paradise in which Once Twice Melody takes place. In an interview with music publication NME, guitarist Alex Scally called fantasy ‘the best’ and ‘most responsible’ way to cope with the pressures of reality.

Lyrics video for chapter two’s soothing ‘ESP’

‘Superstar’, chapter one’s celestial six-minute opus, sees Legrand compare a lost lover to a falling star, her distant vocals lost in an enchanting audio expanse. She’s recognising this former romance as unattainable but admits that her feelings remain: ‘It may be out of sight, but never out of mind’. As it draws to a close, the song bursts into shattered fragments of cherub-kissed bliss; a stellar moment the pair will make the most of at their UK and European tour, which begins this May.

On ‘Pink Funeral’, a slightly kitschy take on post-breakup heartache, our narrator removes the rose-tinted spectacles, seeing a dead relationship for its true colours. The track’s mournful melody can’t help but lend itself to the lovelorn ballads of the 80s, while its grief-stricken lyrics reflect on the couple’s fall from grace: ‘Once was a fairy-tale, then it all went to Hell’, but accept this unrequited love was destined to fail: ‘Swans on a starry lake, hearts that were made to break’.

The record’s third section, ‘Masquerade’ dabbles in choral musical arrangements and borderline-religious imagery. Uplifting ballad ‘Another Go Around’ sounds as if it could be sung in church, while the chapter-closing ‘Illusion of Forever’ transports listeners to a peaceful nirvana, fully embracing the fantastical.

Legrand performs in Melbourne back in 2011.

Shoegaze-inspired ‘Only You Know’ is the third instalment’s most distinctive for its fast-paced beat, electric percussion, and slight teenage-angst, harkening back to 2015’s ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’. The song’s instrumentation feels as if it’s on the run, which compliments the bittersweet lyrical mantra: life moves fast, ‘don’t blink’ Legrand echoes, or you could miss it.

Stunning lyrics video for ‘Only You Know’.

For fans of 2018’s gloomier ‘7’, the new record’s lack of guitar may feel saccharine, but it is not without its depth. Recorded mid-pandemic, the pair had plenty of time to lose themselves in Once Twice Melody’s storybook-esque haven while the rest of the world was on pause. Legrand told NME: “We felt like life was rife and we felt completely consumed in our art. There were dangerous elements to it, there were beautiful elements to it – I feel like it was a very challenging album in many ways.”

Though Once Twice Melody doesn’t while away time trying to reinvent the wheel - you won’t find any 16-minute long ‘Irene’s on here – the band’s foray into upbeat, pop adjacent nostalgia hasn’t been this prevalent since their early 2010s output. Just as the euphoric ‘Teen Dream’ was over a decade ago, followed by ‘Bloom’ two years later, this project is sure to be a gateway for dozens of new fans.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

Watch the third chapter’s bewitching lyrics video here.