Beach House: Teen Dream

It's really hard to name an album you truly love without any criticisms. There's always that one song that you never really liked off the album or some musical choice you never agreed with.

With Beach House's Teen Dream, every song was absolutely beautiful. From Zebra to Take Care, every song had its own melody and specific sound. Beach House keeps its signature mellowness, but Legrand's voice is stronger and more defined. Her voice in Real Love drives the slow song with strength and emotion, and her voice seems much louder on this album than the previous ones. She's gained more vocal strength since Beach House's second album, Devotion, and it shows. Although songs like Gila and Heart of Chambers from Devotion were beautiful and slow, they don't have the strong vocal lines to really be distinguishable from the rest of the album. In this way, Teen Dream is much better than the previous albums - the instruments no longer overpower Legrand's voice.

Teen Dream is also more upbeat than Beach House and Devotion, especially with the first song, Zebra with its quick drum beat, and Norway with its fast guitar riffs. Beach House still keeps its mellow sound, but it also has picked up its pace; no longer are most of the songs slow.

Teen Dream is one of the few albums I've encountered that is as perfect as can be. Every song has been worked to perfection; every guitar, keyboard, drum, and vocal line intertwines to create beautiful, calm, ethereal music. Since Radiohead's In Rainbows, never have I heard an album in which I have enjoyed every song.

Key songs: Zebra, Real Love, Silver Soul, and Norway.