An album that immerses and soothes on a celestial drift
through clouds of sound, Beach House’s Bloom is an album to buy for those who
like to transport themselves from a world of stress to calmer climes. Not the
most inspirational release of the year with a plethora of ambience soaking
every chance for stark innovation, Bloom nevertheless is an accomplished work
with intelligently crafted melodies and wistful lyrics. It is good for
beachside vacations in hazy sunshine – in other words, beach house fodder.
You are immersed from the fuzzy opening of Myth, taken on a
carpet ride through the calm euphoria which flows from track to track and
departed off the back of a mirage of guitars which grace On the Sea. This
proves to be the highlight of Bloom, showing how the album as a whole could
have been better with drive and a focus. Too much of Bloom seems to amble
without hinging onto a tangible hook so it is quite easy to drift away too far.
After waking up the listener would struggle to remember where they left off,
and with many of the tracks merging together only On the Sea really stands out.
The Hours has echoes of Beach Boys with a sleepy percussion
and surf-like ambience, while Wishes washes round the mind with a luscious
swirl of guitars. The outro, Irene, links saturating synths to Jesus and Mary
Chain-esque vocals to leave the album on a euphoric high. In conclusion, a good
album with a dense dreamscape that makes an ideal soundtrack, but is weaker on
direct listen.
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