Once Twice Melody

''Once Twice Melody'' is the eighth studio album by the American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on February 18, 2022, through Sub Pop, with its four chapters being released throughout four months starting November 10, 2021. A follow-up of their seventh studio album '' 7'' (2018), they began recording the album in 2018 at their home studio, Apple Orchard Studio, in Baltimore, with additional recording taking place at Pachyderm Studio, United Studio and Village Recorders until July 2021.

A double album of 18 songs, it is presented in four chapters with several musical styles being used throughout, including dream pop, neo-psychedelia and chamber pop. ''Once Twice Melody'' received universal acclaim by music critics upon release, and debuted at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with 24,000 album-equivalent units. To support the album, "Once Twice Melody", "Hurts to Love" and "Superstar" were released as singles. Beach House additionally embarked the Once Twice Melody Tour in 2022, in support of the album.

Background and recording

Following the release of the band's seventh studio album '' 7'' (2018), which received critical acclaim, the band began recording their next album at Apple Orchard Studio in Baltimore. It was then announced in February 2021 that they would contribute to arts company Meow Wolf's interactive exhibition Omega Mart, releasing a short film titled "Marin's Dreams" on April 22, 2021. In the same month, the band revealed to ''Rolling Stone'' that they were thinking of working on their eighth album, adding that they would "like to get there". In a September 2021 interview with 101.9 KINK FM, the band revealed that they were working on their album during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that it would be released in 2022. On November 9, 2021, the band announced the album as ''Once Twice Melody'', and stated that it would be released in four chapters throughout four months.

Musical style

''Once Twice Melody'' is a double album, with its material being described as dream pop, neo-psychedelia and chamber pop. Throughout the album, there are tracks without live drums, electronic songs without guitar, and "wandering and repetitive melodies", as described by Beach House; additionally, it is their first album where a live string ensemble was used and the first to be produced entirely by the band. Split into four chapters, the band's lead vocalist Victoria Legrand explained to '' Consequence'' that there is not a "right" way to listen to the album, adding that "you can just get lost n the albumhow you want to". "Runaway" uses a vocoder throughout the song and "Only You Know" is a shoegaze track, while "Masquerade" and "Finale" have been described as "'80s synth-pop" tracks.

Promotion and release

The first chapter for ''Once Twice Melody'', ''Pink Funeral'', was released on November 10, 2021, with the title track being released as its lead single on the same day. Its second chapter, ''New Romance'', was released on December 8, 2021, with the third chapter, ''Masquerade'', being released on January 19, 2022. "Hurts to Love" was surprised released as a standalone single on February 14, 2022, to coincide with Valentine's Day, making it the album's second single. ''Once Twice Melody'' was released in full for digital download and streaming, with the addition of cassette, CD and LP releases, on February 18, 2022, through Sub Pop and Bella Union Lyric animations for each song were also uploaded onto YouTube.

''Once Twice Melody'' debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' Top Album Sales chart, with 20,300 copies sold in its first week; in addition it debuted atop the US Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Vinyl Albums charts. It also debuted at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart with 24,000 album-equivalent units, adding their fourth top-20 entry on the chart. "Superstar" was later sent to US radio on April 4, 2022, as its third single, while the title track peaked at number 15 on the US Adult Alternative Airplay chart. The band performed the former on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' on May 20, 2022. To support the album, the band embarked the Once Twice Melody tour, which began on February 18, 2022, in Pittsburgh and ended on July 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C..

Critical reception

''Once Twice Melody'' was released to universal acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Heather Phares claimed that, "Though ''Once Twice Melody'' is unapologetically lush even by Beach House's standards, the duo uses space creatively to express the beauty in sadness." Stevie Chick of '' Mojo'' called it the band's "grandest vision yet", praising the "impassive beauty" of Legrand's vocals and comparing them to "' O Superman'-era Laurie Anderson serenades, or as if someone programmed AI to sing like Judee Sill." Jason Anderson of '' Uncut'' commended the "stunning" cinematic quality of the first chapter and praised the album's "unexpected elements" for deftly counterbalancing the "grandeur and glamour from becoming sickly sweet." ''Uncut'' concluded that the album's "greatness lies not in its hugeness – it's in the duo's ability to create music that possesses the same intimacy regardless of its scope."

Track listing

Personnel

* Beach House – arrangement, performance; production, engineering; art direction
** Victoria Legrand
** Alex Scally
** James Barone
* James Barone – live drums (writing, performance)
* Michael Scally – guitar solo (3)
* Wheatie Mattiasich – additional vocals (9)
* Rebecca Morrin – additional vocals (9)
* David Campbell – live strings arrangement
* Nick Tveitbakk – live drums engineering (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12–14, 18)
* Trevor Spencer – live drums engineering (2–4, 6–9, 11), mixing (5, 11)
* Gabe Burch – live strings engineering
* Travis Warner – live strings engineering
* Johnny Morgan – assistant live drums engineering (2–4, 6–9, 11)
* Alan Moulder – mixing (1–4, 6–8, 10, 12, 16, 18)
* Caesar Edmunds – mixing (9, 13, 15, 17)
* Dave Fridmann – mixing (14)
* Mike Fridmann – assistant mixing (14)
* Greg Calbi – mastering
* Steve Fallone – mastering
* Jeff Kleinsmith – art direction, design
* Nicholas Law – inside heart art

Charts

References

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2022 albums
Beach House albums
Sub Pop albums
Chamber pop albums
Neo-psychedelia albums
Psychedelic music albums by American artists