From Noble Lake to Private Eleanor and Small Sur, it feels like Baltimore is in the middle of some kind of soft rock renaissance, with a number of the local indie scene’s best bands playing and singing in hushed tones, as if gathered around a campfire. And at the forefront of that quiet army is Beach House, whose 2006 self-titled debut garnered so much national acclaim that the band actually scraped the Billboard album charts at #195 with their latest, Devotion, earlier this year.

The duo, comprised of singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally, layer a film of reverb over lackadaisical tempos, and the overall effect is not so much retro as it is timeless, and placeless. The vaguely exotic sound of French expatriate Legrand’s lingering accent brings to mind Nico’s work on the Velvet Underground’s first album. And aside from the tinny drum machine patterns that occasionally keep the time, there’s little to distinguish Devotion as a contemporary work; it could’ve been made at almost any point in the past twenty years, or even in VU’s era.

All The Years

Occasionally a strong melody does cut through the haze, particularly on “All The Years,” where a wandering slide guitar melody gives the chorus an edge of yearning. But for the most part, Devotion seems to force itself into background music status, even if it’s really pretty, well made background music, which may be exactly what Beach House are going for.