Beach House Devotion

Sigur Ros, Red House Painters, Cat Powers, and Low, for example, have all built musical careers by slowly unwinding and unveiling the beauty of a song as if tomorrow may never come. Baltimore’s Beach House, a duo comprised of musician Alex Scally and vocalist/organist Victoria Legrand (niece of French composer Michel Legrand), take the same approach, infusing their languid compositions with churchly organ notes, glassy synthesizers, and echoing percussion and vocals (Legrand is classically trained), creating a sound that is stately, grand, and a bit haunting. Waltzing wraiths float through much of Devotion, the second album by the duo, and one gets the feeling there are many skeletons rattling around in the album’s lyrics. The band has mentioned influences such as Big Star/Chris Bell, Brian Wilson, and the Zombies in interviews, and careful listening reveals the spirits of those vintage influences here. They also cover indie demi-god Daniel Johnston, on the fragile and lovely “Some Things Last a Long Time.” Songs like “You Came to Me” and “Heart of Chambers” are utterly entrancing, and Legrand’s voice becomes another spellbinding, hypnotic instrument on tracks like “Gila” and “Holy Dances.” Magical.