7 by Beach House a fresh and interesting listen

 To quote my sister upon hearing one of the songs on 7 by Beach House, “Is this Enya or indie alternative?” That seems to be a pretty good summary of the album, and as someone who loves both indie and alternative music and whose secret guilty pleasure is Enya music, I’m not complaining one bit. Beach House is one of the best new artist finds for me in a long time.

 Most sources can’t seem to agree on the genre of the album, and I see why. It’s a very dense album with lots of sonic layers to it. It gathers elements of pop, indie, psychedelic, rock, electronic, and techno music and weaves them together into a layered masterpiece.

 One of the genre labels that some assign to 7 is dream pop, which makes sense to me because listening to it sounds like you’re walking around in a fairytale world with princesses and elves and ogres and cotton candy clouds. 7 is nostalgia in an album.

 I like every single song on this album, every single one, which is so rare, but I’ve attempted to choose a few favorites.

 “Girl of the Year” was an immediate stand out to me. Although trying to unravel Beach House lyrics is a challenge because they’re vague but you know they’re Deep™, I interpret the song to be about the contrast between the disconnect a star feels with the world and the connection the star feels with a lover, and the concept intrigues me.

 “Dark Spring” is another favorite. As the name suggests, it is one of the darker tracks on the album, and as someone who tends to like dark music more than bright music, I naturally loved it. It’s backed with some heavy drums and guitar. Sonically, it is amazing. Not gonna lie, the meaning of star symbolism woven into the lyrics is a bit of a mystery to me, but I don’t even mind because I love the sound of the song that much.

 “L’Inconnue” is another stand out to me because of its sound. The layered melody vocals combined with the breathy descant and the track that backs them really appeal to me.

 Overall, I love 7 because it is so fresh and different in comparison to most songs out there. It’s been on repeat for me since it came out, and I know that it will be all I listen to for the next little while.