“We drive around this town/Houses melting down/A vision turning green/Is all we’ve ever seen/
And then it’s dark again”
What’s that sound? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its the whooshing sound of My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields turning his amp up real high, swooping the tremolo bar way low, and birthing a million bands in the process. Beach House have always had the shoegazing bit down (guitarist Alex Scally is known to sit on a stool during live performances), but “Sparks” is their first attempt at that guitar tone. You know the one that conjures up an image of a popsicle slowly melting during a hot summer day.
“Sparks” finds Beach House atypically swathing themselves in layers of swooning shoegaze guitars and bitcrushed synths. Victoria Legrand’s airy vocals are still the most alluring aspect of “Sparks” as they sleepily drift over the overdriven haze. Compared to their more intricate work in “Teen Dream” and “Bloom,” “Sparks” harkens back to their earlier sound that was less arrangement and more dense layers of lo-fi synths and drum machines.
The track will be featured on the band’s forthcoming album, Depression Cherry, out August 28th. So right around the perfect time to mourn the end of the summer. But hey, why wait until then? Check out the handful of tour dates below that are before the album comes out:
08-18 Portland, ME – State Theatre
08-19 Northampton, MA – Pearl Street Nightclub
08-20 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
08-21 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
08-22 Millvale, PA – Mr. Small’s
08-24 Albany, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
08-25 Providence, RI – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
08-26 New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall