Beach House spent nine months writing their absolutely fantastic album Teen Dream, teasing out the pockets of sound and texture. They recorded the album is upstate New York with the help of producer Chris Coady. This was their first record produced with outside assistance, and the effect, at least, seems to be that they were more specific/less distracted. While this created a giant sonic leap forward, it was, to a small degree, at the price of some basic simplicity. Undeniably complex, the songs themselves are unable to return to the more basic wash of their self-titled debut and followup Devotion. But it's just as much the skilled and elaborate performance that migrates Beach House from its original muddled beauty into a more pristine chamber with Teen Dream. What we're trying to say is this: The Daytrotter Sessions Beach House recorded for four tracks from Teen Dream are the best of both worlds. These live sessions have the feel of older Beach House—powerful because of their languorousness, though in turn not interested in a grand clarity—with the enormous feat of the crystalline songwriting of Teen Dream. Though it would be difficult to recommend them over Teen Dream, these recordings are, in some ways, an experiment in what could have been.
