"Lemon Glow" is a song by American

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

band

Beach House Beach House is an American indie music, indie band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore in 2004 by current members Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals, drum programming). Their work is char ...

. It was released on February 15, 2018, through

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

, as the lead single from their album '' 7'' (2018). Accompanied with a visualizer, it was received positively by several publications, with several of them calling it the band's "most danceable track to date".

Background

Following the release of their compilation album '' B-Sides and Rarities'' (2017), the band announced the release of "Lemon Glow" on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

on February 15, 2018. Accompanied with a caption read on the Instagram post as "Wishing everyone out there love tonight", the band stated that it would appear on their then-untitled seventh studio album, serving as its lead single. An accompanying visualizer, in which Salvatore Maicki of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' described as a "groovy checkered visual", was released on the same day.

Composition

"Lemon Glow" contains a "metallic ndstrobing synth line" that is heard throughout the song. It also uses additional

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s and

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s, with the song ending abruptly. While being asked by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' about the beat running throughout the song, guitarist

Alex Scally Alex Kristian Scally (born July 15, 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is known as the co-writer, guitarist and backing vocalist of the dream pop band Beach House, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Early ...

stated that it's a "shitty ’90s drum machine that we found in L.A. in like 2012", with a demo of the beat being titled "dyslexia".

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from critics. Upon release, several publications considered "Lemon Glow" to be Beach House's "most danceable track to date", including ''

'', ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

''. Named as "Best New Track", Shaad D'Souza from ''

'' described "Lemon Glow" as a "new direction for each House with subtle changes to their distinct sound that signal a sharpening of the band’s typically soft edges." Lauren O'Neill from ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' considered that it is "a little more foreboding than hey'reused to from each House but stated that it is "a great new twist on their sound". "Lemon Glow" was named as the 10th best track of the first-half of 2018 by ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', who referred it as "woozy".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''7''. Beach House *

Victoria Legrand Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand (born May 28, 1981) is a French-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist of the dream pop band Beach House. Early life Legrand was born in Paris, France, the daughter of paint ...

Additional * James Barone – live drums, engineering *

Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to ...

– drill, production * Mikhail Pivovarov – engineering * David Tolemei – engineering, additional editing and recording *

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...

– mixing * Caesar Edmunds – engineering *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...

– mastering

Charts

References

{{Beach House 2018 singles 2018 songs Beach House songs Songs written by Victoria Legrand Sub Pop singles