7
by Beach House

From elo269megv 09/12/2018 01:39 | #220940 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I have this album in my top 10 for 2018. I think its a very beautiful album, as Beach House always delivers in that aspect, and has a handful and standout songs.

However, I don't like when people get down voted for having reasonable opinions, even if they're perhaps opposing viewpoints from your own. I wouldn't down vote someone unless I suspected them of being a troll or making a waaaaayyy too extreme or inaccurate comment. Seems like as soon as anyone makes a negative comment on a "good" album it gets down voted...

From Vatsal TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/13/2018 16:25 | #214754 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Depression Cherry and TYLS did feel like they were reaching the end of a road, and listening to this album now, the whole bit they said about this being "a creative fresh start" really does make sense.

The album sounds fresh, their sound feels rejuvenated and I like how there's a certain urgency and earnestness to the songs here. Its such a pleasure listening to this album and I am so in awe of Beach House right now cuz i really wasn't expecting them to sound as good this late in their career. A Career highlight and an absolute success.

P.s. L'inconnue is a gem of a song!

From Vatsal TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/22/2018 12:35 | #215427 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

@corenfro I haven't really seen alot of people call it "revolutionary" or "invented a new genre" or anything like that. Its a pretty great dream pop album. And you can't decide if anyone should find it fresh or not. It doesn't necessarily mean its a fresh new genre, it may just mean its different from the usual barrage of albums over a few months/years or even just fresh from the artist themselves.
Plus I dont think anyone stumbles upon beach house without knowing about Slowdive/Cocteau Twins. But even so, this album should be evaluated independently without having to compare it to its dream pop predeccessors.
Just cuz you dont like an album thats otherwise loved, doesnt make them sheeps/inexperienced. (This is coming from someone who isnt a fan of Damn. or A Moon Shaped Pool.)

This record is exactly what I've been waiting for from Beach House. Their past few records (Bloom, Depression Cherry, TYLS) have been excellent, particularly Bloom, but I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they would truly go all in on the weird bits of experimentation we've gotten on these past few releases. Tracks like Elegy to the Void, Days of Candy, New Year, and Sparks have left me yearning for them to really cut loose and make a wild record of roaring guitars and entrancing psychedelia.

And here were are. 7 is the culmination of all of these ideas, and what we've gotten is quite possibly Beach House's best record and what will almost surely be my AOTY barring a huge surprise. This record is a trifecta of shoegaze, neo-psychedelia, and surrealist dream pop. The noisy/electrifying guitar melodies and entrancing synths co-exist with each other very well instead of simply washing each other out into a blur. Last Ride and Woo are sterling examples of this; the guitar exists in a different section of the mix (almost a different ear, entirely) than the synths and the two play off each other like a conversation.

I will say that Beach House fans who were pulled to the band specifically by the Depression Cherry era might have a hard time enjoying this one as much as I -- whereas their previous records have slammed you in the face with clear and straightforward celestial melodies, this record is a much more challenging listen. Many of the beautiful ideas here (particularly on tracks like Drunk in LA, Dark Spring, Dive, and Last Ride) are buried in the mix waiting to be deciphered out of the dark trance-like abyss of this record. Think less Cocteau Twins and more Slowdive.

It's not often that I can hear an album this diverse from song-to-song still come together as a totally coherent whole. There is a hypnotic dark texture that runs through the entire record, but there are so many ideas explored here...like the dreamy noir (almost Blade Runner-like) chimes of Black Car, the noisy yet introspective Drunk in LA, the sunny acoustic guitar-driven Lose Your Smile, the surreal and blissful L'Inconnue, or the sheer heavyhanded darkness of Dark Spring.

The end product is a thrilling record that manages to be aggressive, strange, tender, and blissful all at once. Not only that, but it's a record that has grown on me after several listens. Like an MBV or Slowdive record, it has many hidden depths that add something new to each listen. This album hit many of my individual tastes of music in the right spot and is an instant classic for my listening.

The album is a beautiful progression from beginning to end, ordered almost cinematically -- the "Teen Dream" has come to a bitter end and in the first half of the record we are faced with bleak, intoxicating nostalgia both lyrically and musically. Black Car is the climax of this idea, before the record suddenly opens up into sheer dreamy bliss with the final 4 tracks, where we see the soft, tender Beach House we know and love break through. The layered guitar-wailing chime ending to Last Ride is unreal and is probably the most powerful and overwhelming way they've ended a record thus far.

Favorite Tracks: L'Inconnue, Black Car, Girl of the Year, Last Ride, Dark Spring

I've been listening to "7" on repeat since the last couple of days. It's a very consistent, fresh sounding album with great songwriting from start to finish. Victoria's amazing voice and the flow of the whole record makes it all incredibly beautiful. It's one of the best albums they have ever made, if not the best one.