The five best Beach House songs, according to Beach House – Far Out Magazine

When you hear the weeping guitars and cosmic synths that form the basis of ‘Space Song’ by Beach House, it feels almost impossible to skip. It’s like you’re falling into the piece’s tender embrace, accompanied by Victoria Legrand’s soft voice as she questions, “Who will dry your eyes/ When it falls apart?” The song, one of their most popular, was released in 2015, but the band have been making music since 2004, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2006.
Harnessing a rather low-key presence in the indie sphere, Beach House are one of those bands that are just consistently great. Even their weaker albums still have plenty of dreamy tracks on them, with their B-Sides and Rarities record containing many tracks that could easily be studio album highlights. With eight albums to their name, Beach House don’t show any signs of slowing down their output, much to the relief of a very dedicated fanbase.
It’s hard to pick one album that truly defines Beach House, although it’s hard to ignore Bloom, Depression Cherry and 7, perhaps their most commercially successful and acclaimed albums. There’s no surprise, then, that most of the band’s favourite songs they’ve ever made come from these albums. Legrand and Alex Scally, the other half of Beach House, once shared their five favourite tracks with Baltimore Magazine, starting with 7’s ‘Drunk in L.A’.
Describing the writing process behind the song, Scally revealed, “The lyrics to this song were written in Los Angeles while mixing our album Depression Cherry during an inspiring afternoon in the studio.” The pair were drinking wine and experiencing a mixture of emotions – “feeling both alive and very dead.” The track has a haunting energy to it, with a constant dark synth running through it, ending with seductive yet slightly melancholic electric guitars.
‘Lemon Glow’, also from 7, is another one of the pair’s favourites, with Scally calling it “a song about love” that uses “the ugliest keyboard sound ever.” It really does work, acting as a strangely perfect accompaniment for Legrand’s voice as she sings, “It’s what you do/ This pulls me through.” Her vocals layer with a sense of ethereality, creating a hazy atmosphere that evokes the image of a low-lit bedroom.
Another pick from 7 that the band loves is ‘Dive’, which Scally describes as “a runt from a litter of puppies that jumps in the backseat of a car and charms everyone.” It was the last song the band wrote for the 2018 album, and it’s easily one of the best songs on the record. There’s a reflective and gentle first half, which makes way for a more upbeat end that feels like the sonic equivalent of emerging from a dark period of your life and travelling through a tunnel towards the light, towards hope and change.
However, journeying back to 2012 now, Beach House also highlighted one of their most well-known pieces, ‘Myth’, from their fourth album, Bloom. It’s a gorgeous number, with Scally explaining, “We wrote this song in 2011, but it still vibrates in the ‘right’ way, so we keep its light burning.” Lucid and captivating, the track feels much bigger than some of their others – it floats with a quiet kind of grandiosity, modest in its gorgeousness. Legrand sings, “Can’t keep hanging on/ To what is dead and gone,” using slightly more power in her voice than normal.
Finally, another favourite is ‘Levitation’ from Depression Cherry. It opens the record with Legrand’s intimate vocals and sweet synths, setting the song up for a slightly heavier end driven by guitars. “The end and the beginning often have a similar feeling,” Scally said in reference to the track, adding, “and we feel this song captures that paradox.”

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