#mistletone

Toro Y Moi The Evolution of  Chaz Bundick for Acclaim Magazine - Photos Elliott Lauren

BATTS review for The Weekend Australian

John Sharkey III - “Death Is All Around” from ‘Shoot Out The Cameras’, out March 5

John Sharkey III - “Death Is All Around” from the album ‘Shoot Out The Cameras’, out March 5 (preorders start March 5)

(Mistletone)

(Mistletone)

Last Friday Beach House released their 7th LP, the aptly titled 7, and it’s their most compelling release since Bloom. Although their sound has remained remarkably consistent across their discography, 7 comes the closest to legitimately shaking things up. Highlight “Drunk In LA” is the record’s dazzling centerpiece; another exquisitely produced, gorgeous slice of slow burning dream pop. The song opens with a mesmerizing procession of cool organ tones, waves of distortion, layers of synth sheen, and Legrand’s smoky vocals piercing through the haze. Legrand’s forlorn vocals drape over the synths with an effortlessly commanding presence in a manner that hardly demands close attention, but necessitates it nonetheless. “Left my heart out somewhere running/Wanting strangers to be mine/Memory’s a sacred meat/That’s drying all the time” Legrand sighs nonchalantly as she reminiscences about her experiences, and the vast distance between her past self and the woman that she’s become. What initially scans as an ode to lost youth quietly reveals itself to be one of contentment with aging, and as the last few lines spill out of her mouth “I had a good run playing horses in my mind/On a hillside I remember/I am loving losing life” the larger picture begins to come into view. “Drunk In LA” is as transportive and illusive as their best work, but it finds the band painting in deeper, more multi-dimensional shades, and 7 as a whole strikes an ideal balance between consistency and exploration