Once Twice Melody

2022 studio album by Beach House
Once Twice Melody
Studio album by
Beach House
ReleasedFebruary 18, 2022 (2022-02-18)
Recorded2018 – July 2021
Studio
  • Apple Orchard (Baltimore, Maryland)
  • Pachyderm Studio (Cannon Falls, Minnesota)
  • United Studio (Los Angeles)
  • Village Recorders (Los Angeles)
Genre
  • Dream pop
  • neo-psychedelia
  • chamber pop
Length84:28
Label
  • Sub Pop
ProducerBeach House
Beach House chronology
7
(2018) 		Once Twice Melody
(2022) 		Become
(2023)
Singles from Once Twice Melody
  1. "Once Twice Melody"
    Released: November 10, 2021
  2. "Hurts to Love"
    Released: February 14, 2022
  3. "Superstar"
    Released: April 4, 2022

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.

Following the release 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.

To support the album, three singles were released: "Once Twice Melody", "Hurts to Love" and "Superstar". 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.[1] It was then announced on 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.[2] 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".[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Musical style

Once Twice Melody is a double album, with its material being described as dream pop,[6] neo-psychedelia[7] and chamber pop.[8] 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.[1] 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 [in the album] how you want to".[9] "Runaway" uses a vocoder throughout the song and "Only You Know" is a shoegaze track,[10] while "Masquerade" and "Finale" have been described as "'80s synth-pop" tracks.[11]

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.[12][13] Its second chapter, New Romance, was released on December 8, 2021,[14] with the third chapter, Masquerade, being released on January 19, 2022.[15] "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.[16] 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[17] Lyric animations for each song were also uploaded onto YouTube.[18]

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.[19] 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.[20] "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.[21][20] The band performed the former on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 20, 2022.[22] 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..[23]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.8/10[24]
Metacritic84/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[26]
The A.V. ClubB+[11]
The Daily Telegraph[27]
Exclaim!7/10[28]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[10]
Mojo[6]
NME[8]
Pitchfork7.8/10[29]
Uncut8/10[30]

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".[25] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[24]

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."[26] 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."[6] 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."[30]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Beach House.

Chapter 1. Pink Funeral
No.TitleLength
1."Once Twice Melody"4:44
2."Superstar"6:08
3."Pink Funeral"4:56
4."Through Me"5:48
Chapter 2. New Romance
No.TitleLength
5."Runaway"4:23
6."ESP"3:48
7."New Romance"4:12
8."Over and Over"7:11
Chapter 3. Masquerade
No.TitleLength
9."Sunset"3:59
10."Only You Know"4:49
11."Another Go Around"3:41
12."Masquerade"4:42
13."Illusion of Forever"3:49
Chapter 4. Modern Love Stories
No.TitleLength
14."Finale"4:34
15."The Bells"4:30
16."Hurts to Love"4:05
17."Many Nights"4:16
18."Modern Love Stories"4:53
Total length:84:28

Personnel

  • Beach House – arrangement, performance; production, engineering; art direction
  • 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

Chart performance for Once Twice Melody
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] 68
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[32] 53
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[34] 111
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[35] 64
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 138
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 14
Irish Albums (IRMA)[38] 78
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[40] 57
Swedish Vinyl Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 22
UK Albums (OCC)[43] 65
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[44] 4
US Billboard 200[45] 12
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[46] 2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[47] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[48] 1

References

  1. ^ a b "Once Twice Melody | Beach House". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  2. ^ Yoo, Noah (April 22, 2021). "Beach House Soundtrack New Meow Wolf Short Film 'Marin's Dreams': Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (April 22, 2021). "Beach House's Psychedelic Soundtrack for Meow Wolf's Omega Mart Drops". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Skinner, Tom (September 29, 2021). "Beach House confirm new album is coming in 2022". NME. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  5. ^ Paul, Larisha (November 9, 2021). "Beach House to Release Eighth Studio Album 'Once Twice Melody,' Headline 2022 World Tour". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Chick, Stevie (March 2022). "Beach House – Once Twice Melody: Baltimore duo transcend dream-pop with 18 tracks of mesmerising digital psychedelia". Mojo. No. 340. p. 83.
  7. ^ Pearis, Bill (19 January 2022). "Beach House share 'Once Twice Melody' Chapter 3 (stream 5 new songs)". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b Hunt, El (February 18, 2022). "Beach House – 'Once Twice Melody' review: surrealist dream-poppers turn the page". NME. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Ragusa, Paolo (February 17, 2022). "Beach House Interview: Duo Talks Once Twice Melody". Consequence. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Singh, Jay (February 17, 2022). "A decade since their magnum opus, Beach House continue elevating their artistry on Once Twice Melody | Pop". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Tenreyro, Tatiana (February 16, 2022). "Beach House spreads some of its most impressive work across the four chapters of Once Twice Melody". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  12. ^ Minsker, Evan (November 10, 2021). "Listen to Beach House's 4 New Songs From Once Twice Melody". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  13. ^ Santiago, Gio (November 10, 2021). "Beach House: Once Twice Melody Track Review". Pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  14. ^ Richards, Will (December 8, 2021). "Listen to four new songs from Beach House's 'Once Twice Melody'". NME. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Zemler, Emily (January 19, 2022). "Beach House Shares Five Songs from Upcoming Album 'Once Twice Melody'". NME. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  16. ^ @BeaccchHoussse (February 14, 2022). "Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, whether in or out of love…https://youtu.be/N2N5ohmzo3k The Last chapter of Once Twice Melody is out Friday, but we felt we should have this song come out today…." (Tweet). Retrieved February 15, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Minsker, Evan (November 9, 2021). "Beach House Announce New Album Once Twice Melody and 2022 Tour". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  18. ^ Lavin, Will (November 9, 2021). "Beach House announce new album 'Once Twice Melody' and spring UK tour". NME. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  19. ^ Caulfield, Keith (March 1, 2022). "Beach House Scores First No. 1 on Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Rutherford, Kevin (March 2, 2022). "Beach House Scores Second No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Album Charts". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  21. ^ "Triple A Future Releases". AllAccess. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  22. ^ Graves, Wren (May 20, 2022). "Beach House Float Through 'Superstar' on Colbert: Watch". Consequence. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  23. ^ Rettig, James (November 9, 2021). "Beach House Announce New Album Once Twice Melody & 2022 Tour Dates". Stereogum. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
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  25. ^ a b "Once Twice Melody by Beach House Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  26. ^ a b Phares, Heather (February 18, 2022). "Once Twice Melody - Beach House | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  27. ^ Hall, James (February 17, 2022). "Beach House, Once Twice Melody, review: an epic, dreamy journey from heartbreak to redemption". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
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