Dream-pop duo Beach House returns to the Cincinnati area on Wednesday, March 2, at Newport's PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation, to share music from a fresh double-album, "Once Twice Melody." Released in four parts over a month-long period, the sprawling collection expands on their intimate lo-fi sound, embracing broader production and reinterpreting nostalgic textures.
Even those unfamiliar with the band’s catalog often recognize the authentically hazy contralto croon of singer and keyboardist Victoria Legrand daubing through guitarist Alex Scally’s echo-draped arpeggios – each warmly tethered by the pair’s disciplined bitty background beats.
Generously, via phone, Legrand opined about the new album, the progression of the band technologically and how the two met in their hometown, Baltimore.
Question: I hope you get a chance to explore while you're in town.
Answer: If we didn't like seeing new places, enjoying the thrill of seeing strangers and exchanging these energy fields, we would not tour. It's a magical experience. Every place you go changes you, so it's all connected.
Q: We've lived through a technological evolution, from mix CDs, to sharing, to streaming. How’s that changed you as a band?
A: We're rolling with it. We just utilized one of the big liberties of streaming to release this new record. We view streaming as a way for more people to access things and search for things and discover things. Artists can put out their music and there's not a long waiting period like there used to be.
Q: When I started recording music, it was onto my tape machine. Now, when I need to save an idea, it’s on the cell phone. Did phones change your process?
A: One of my favorite parts of my phone is that ability to, at any time, record something. There are so many ways to write and there are so many ways to collect ideas. I don’t see negativity about more access to each other’s ideas. There's more fluidity. Ultimately, it leads to more creativity. Now, all the other aspects – the amount companies pay artists – that's a separate conversation, but an important one. The studio experience can be really amazing. But for people that aren't going to spend $5,000 for a couple of days of work in a studio, you can have it in your lap.
Q: Speaking of studio work, your sound was lo-fi at the beginning, and now there's more emphasis on production, even if it’s still minimalist-style music. Was that on purpose, or was it just access to better tools?
A: We've grown as producers. At the beginning, we were just making something with what we had, and it happened to be with instruments that we loved – that felt good. Alex has been utilizing four-tracks since he was a teenager, so he had all this experience growing up, and I had my experiences, so when we met, it was like, click, we go along well. We both loved Bob Marley when we were teenagers – a lot of intersections with our friendship and our inspirations and tastes. Necessity is the mother of invention. Alex could play guitar, but he wasn't like, okay, I'm a guitarist. He became that because it had to happen. The way we work together hasn't changed. We're still the same two people, more or less, and we have our way of communicating the elements: the guitar, beats, bass pedals, elements of lo-fi. Every album we've made, we have two or three new pieces of gear that we've pulled into the fold. Those become the little harbingers of excitement.
Q: What about the Baltimore scene led you guys to meet each other and develop your sound?
A: When we met in 2004, it wasn't because of the scene. We met on the outskirts. A friend of mine, a great guitar player, introduced us. They knew each other in high school. If you imagine a circle, I met Alex on the line of the circle. We were both going out to a lot of shows. The scene was full of life and vibrant. Everybody seemed to be making something, and it egged us on to keep going with what we had discovered, which was that we could make music together and that we enjoyed it.
Q: One more – What’s it like to be sampled by Kendrick Lamar?
A: It’s an incredible honor, honestly. He's an incredible artist, and I always look forward to his next work. It was very flattering.
If you go
What: Beach House - Once Twice Melody Tour, with Colloboh.
When: 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 2.
Where: PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation.
Tickets: $35-$85.
Source link
