My friends have impeccable music taste.

I like to say I do as well, but I always get compliments on the songs that I get from those friends. 

This is the case yet again after my dear friend chastised me for not knowing who Beach House was. After some diligent research, I learned that it is a band made up of artists Victoria Legrand, Alex Scally, and James Barone. Since they just released their newest album, Once Twice Melody, on Feb. 18, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to delve into their music.

Throughout the entire album, one word continued to ring in the back of my mind: ethereal. The way that the musicality and vocals mix to create a beautiful work of art is something I will never understand. Beach House’s music is so unique that I cannot get enough of every beat, lyric, and instrument.

What I also liked about Once Twice Melody was the way it was set up. In most albums, all the songs are put into one long list. However, in Beach House’s new album, they separated the tracks into four separate disks, which I thought was a unique way of doing it. Discs 1 and 2 have four tracks, while Discs 3 and 4 have five.

On Disc 1, my favorite song was the second track, titled “Superstar.” Falling into the synth-infused indie genre, this song mixes guitar, electric piano, drums, and strings, creating a beautiful, unique symphony that I could not get enough of. “Superstar” is about a relationship that is no longer together. In the song, Beach House sings, “I see it now in this photograph / something good never meant to last.” This is a perfect representation of how all good things come to an end, even if you think they will last forever.

The fourth track on Disc 2, “Over and Over,” was my favorite of the four songs on that mini-list. I specifically enjoyed the intro, which was giving very much celestial vibes that I absolutely adored. This song was also seven minutes long, which I would normally get tired of by minute four; however, “Over and Over” was such a relaxing and genuinely good song, one that I will easily listen through to the end on repeat.

As an avid sunset enthusiast, the first song on Disc 3, titled “Sunset,” was one of my favorite songs throughout the entire album. This song was also a nice change of pace from the songs prior to it. While most tracks on Once Twice Melody were flooded with electrical instruments, “Sunset” combined acoustic guitar and strings, along with Beach House’s angelic voices in a way that perfectly matched the all-around vibe of the song. “Sunset” paints a beautiful picture of the sky and landscape as the Sun lays to rest for the evening. It truly is a beautiful song that creates a captivating image in my mind.

As soon as I heard the second track on Disc 4, called “The Bells,” I loved it. I am not sure what specifically drew me to it or why it always makes me feel like crying. It could possibly be because of the lyrics: “And maybe one day / you’ll hear them singing / you’ll step outside and they’ll be ringing / the cars, the bars, the lies, the girls on Mars, the superstars / are like bells / they ring out all the same.”

These lyrics could be perceived differently by anyone, but I see them as how people can get so caught up in the chaos of their own lives, that they don’t ever realize that everyone around them is going through something of the same. Don’t ask me why that makes me feel so emotional, but I was always told that a song that makes you feel is considered a good song, and I consider “The Bells” to be beautiful.

If not for my friend’s impeccable music taste, I most likely would have never come across this lyrical masterpiece by Beach House. Once Twice Melody was a perfectly composed mixture of ethereal, celestial, and melancholic music, and I could easily say that my music taste got substantially better after listening to it.