Beach House: Thank Your Lucky Stars Review

By Allison Belcher
Music Reviewer

Artist: Beach House
Album: Thank Your Lucky Stars
Label: Sub Pop Records
Release Date: October 16, 2015
Website: www.beachhousebaltimore.com

Miracles do happen, and October’s biggest miracle happened to be revolved around Sub Pop label’s dreamiest and personable artist — Beach House. Just two months after Beach House’s release of Depression Cherry, dream pop music icons Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have surprised fans with another full-length album, Thank Your Lucky Stars. Legrand’s surprise release of Thank Your Lucky Stars caused an uproar for Beach House fans everywhere, triggering both good and bad reactions. The nine songs on Thank Your Lucky Stars were recorded at the same time as Depression Cherry, however, both albums give off different emotions and sounds. Lucky Stars has a darker feel, eliciting a more serious tone in comparison to Depression Cherry. When listening to Lucky Stars, it’s easy to fall into a dark and solemn place, triggering empty and raw feelings built up inside the darker portions of your soul. Lead singer Legrand has told music blogs like Pitchfork that she almost feels like the album is thematically political, which is why it is a completely different release from Depression Cherry — an album that is more spacey and carefree. Lucky Stars transported me back in time to when Devotion was released, which was close to when Legrand and Scally first got signed to Sub Pop. Lucky Stars consists of songs that are much more calming and edgier, acting as a medication to listeners who are struggling with harder times. Legrand has took a complete 180 and has toned down her famous use of reverb, and has instead experimented with syncopation, similar to the style she used in Devotion. The duo’s use of an organ in songs like, “The Traveller” gives off a more melancholy and chilling feel. “Elegy To The Void” is a good example to use when describing the lack of comfort and light in Lucky Stars. Legrand’s dreamy use of reverb has vanished, and is instead replaced with calming, higher pitched guitar notes, contrasting well with Victoria Legrand’s lower, honey-thickened voice. Thank Your Lucky Stars is a sincere gift from Legrand and Scally, and connects with its listeners on a new and deeper level. The contrast in Beach House’s two most recent albums is one that devoted fans can accept Beach House for, and is enough to comfort, interest and feed listeners until the band’s next anticipated release.