Beach House – ‘Gila’
While the heavy-hearted dynamic that characterised Beach House’s debut is alive and well, Devotion boasts a much more expansive pallet. It’s denser, more colourful, and seems intent on asserting itself as much more alive and reactive than its predecessor. But while these are welcome additions, they do little to put any considerable distance between the new material and the characteristically moody ballads that comprised the first album.
It’s essentially the same soundscape: the hazy auburn glow of an antiquated keyboard matched with the slow moan of Scully’s slide guitar as Legrand weeps like an ageing chanteuse…and for anyone who fell in love with their eponymous first effort, that will be more than enough to warrant an acquaintance with Devotion.
As a friend put it when I informed of the forthcoming album: “Ah, it will always be the same song…but what a song.”
