Depression Cherry by Beach House

Since the release of their debut eponymous album, Baltimore based dream pop outfit Beach House have become renowned for their unique, spacey musical style. Their music in large part sees synthesizers, organs, guitar, and drum machines come together to create a sound that really can only be described by the word "dreamy." 

On their fifth full length release Depression Cherry, Beach House look to once again revisit the sound that's garnered them so much critical acclaim thus far in their career. Revisit that sound is exactly what they do, so much so that it makes listening to this album feel simply like browsing through the bands discography. It can easily be said that Beach House have perfected the art of building wonderfully composed dream pop music, but after 4 full length releases, I feel as if there's no time like the present for them to reinvent themselves, which they completely fail to do on this record. 

I can't claim that any song on Depression Cherry is bad, because that isn't true. Instead, it just feels as if I've already heard these tracks many times before, as if I'm suffering from a severe case of deja vu when listening to the album. For the most part, many of the songs in the track listing fail to hold my attention, even though I'm enjoying them, they simply don't surprise me. While the album starts off well, with two of the first three tracks being my favorite on the album, the band fails to capitalize off of the shoe-gazey vibes that both Sparks and Space Song give off. Unfortunately the band retreats back into their comfort zone, and deliver tracks that could easily be mistake for the lesser cuts on their older albums, as they sound that familiar. 

I would have been thrilled to find an album with more songs like Sparks, which features a loud, noisy, buzzing synth in the background that reminds me of shoegaze greats like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. While it was nice to see the duo pay homage to the genre that gave birth to dream pop, they could have easily continued their experimentation with the noisier aspects in a few other tracks. Space Song does borrow a little bit of shoegaze inspiration, but not in the same way that Sparks does, as it's a much more relaxing and laid back song. The band could not have chosen a better name for the track, as the cut really does allow you to envision yourself flying through space when you hear the dissonant synth in the background.

Once again, Depression Cherry is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination. It is however, in my opinion, much less enjoyable than the rest of the band's discography, and for those who have already heard their earlier releases, you're bound to be disappointed by how little the group has progressed since their last release. My only hope is that the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally decide to leave their comfort zone a lot more on their next release.

Rating: C+

Favorite Tracks: Sparks, Space Song

Least Favorite Tracks: Wild Flower, Days of Candy