Beach House: Devotion

I'm unabashedly nostalgic for many of the musical styles of the 80s, which is one reason that I am so fascinated with a lot of the music coming out today. The post-punk and shoegaze revivals of this decade are well-known and their respective marketplaces have become overcrowded. Beach House, on the other hand, is one of only a handful of current bands that recall the mid- to late-80s 4AD sound. The songs on Devotion have an almost glacial tempo, with their dense layers of English pop trappings played at half speed. The instruments sound as if they were recorded through gauze and barely made of matter. The music envelops the listener but passes through like a ghost. For those of us that feel the 4AD sound was perfection, Devotion is bliss.