Depression Cherry

Depression Cherry is the fifth studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was co-produced by the group and Chris Coady, and was released on August 28, 2015, by Sub Pop. The album was recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana, from November 2014 to January 2015. Reacting to their dissatisfaction with using live drums on tour to play songs from their previous album, Bloom (2012), for Depression Cherry, the band returned to simpler song arrangements, similar to those of their first two studio albums. "Sparks" was released as the lead single on July 1. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics. Less than two months after releasing Depression Cherry, Beach House followed it up with their sixth album, Thank Your Lucky Stars.

Depression Cherry
Studio album by Beach House
Released	August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)
Recorded	November 2014 – January 2015
Studio	Studio in the Country (Bogalusa, Louisiana)
Genre	Dream pop
Length	44:45
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	Beach House Chris Coady
Beach House chronology
Bloom (2012) Depression Cherry (2015) Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015)
Singles from Depression Cherry
"Sparks" Released: July 1, 2015

Background and recording

After Beach House completed touring for their previous record Bloom (2012), the group took a six-month break.[1] Uncertain about their future, singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand said, "I didn't feel creative at all... I just thought well, maybe I'll never have another musical idea."[2] She added, "I just personally felt I needed a couple of months of just not doing anything, I didn't have thoughts."[1] Legrand found herself frustrated and limited creatively by the presence of a live drum set on tour to play Bloom's songs because of "the noise it creates and how much space it fills".[1] Guitarist Alex Scally concurred, saying, "There was a transparent feeling, [the songs] didn't feel as nuanced."[1]

Though some of Depression Cherry's musical ideas originated from 2012, Beach House wrote the majority of the record between autumn 2013 and 2014; "10:37" was one of the first songs to be written during this period.[3] The album was recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana over two months,[4][5] from November 2014 to January 2015.[6] It was co-produced by Chris Coady, who worked on the band's previous two records, Teen Dream (2010) and Bloom.[7] Prior to joining the band in the studio, they sent him phone recordings of some of their in-progress songs.[3] For the song "Days of Candy", they hired eight singers from Pearl River Community College to create a 24-part choir.[4] After completing that song and "Levitation", the band knew they had the album's closing and opening tracks, respectively, and considered the record completed.[3] The album was mixed at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California, except "Beyond Love", which was mixed at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas.[8]

Promotion and release

On May 26, 2015, Beach House announced Depression Cherry along with tour dates supporting the album.[6][9] According to the band, the album is a return to the simpler style of dream pop from their first two albums. In a press release on the Sub Pop website, the group said:[10]

"In general, this record shows a return to simplicity, with songs structured around a melody and a few instruments, with live drums playing a far lesser role. With the growing success of Teen Dream and Bloom, the larger stages and bigger rooms naturally drove us towards a louder, more aggressive place; a place farther from our natural tendencies. Here, we continue to let ourselves evolve while fully ignoring the commercial context in which we exist."

Vinyl and compact disc copies of the album feature a cover lined with red velvet. A limited edition "Loser Edition" of the album was released on clear vinyl record.[11]

On July 1, 2015, Beach House released the album's lead single, "Sparks".[12] On August 19, nine days before the release of Depression Cherry, NPR Music made a stream of the album available online.[13]

Commercial performance

Depression Cherry debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, with 27,000 copies sold in its first week.[14]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[15]
Metacritic	76/100[16]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]
The A.V. Club	A−[18]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[19]
The Guardian	[20]
The Irish Times	[21]
NME	5/10[22]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[23]
Q	[24]
Rolling Stone	[25]
Spin	8/10[26]

Depression Cherry received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 34 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Blare Magazine	Top 50 Albums of 2015	9	[27]
Complex	50 Best Albums of 2015	42	[28]
Crack Magazine	Best Albums of 2015	31	[29]
Diffuser.fm	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	9	[30]
Drowned in Sound	Favorite Albums of the Year 2015	70	[31]
Gigwise	Albums of the Year 2015	28	[32]
Gorilla vs. Bear	Albums of 2015	38	[33]
musicOMH	Top 50 Albums Of 2015	41	[34]
No Ripcord	Top 50 Albums of 2015	19	[35]
Paste	50 Best Albums of 2015	19	[36]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	28	[37]
PopMatters	80 Best Albums of 2015	40	[38]
Pretty Much Amazing	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	22	[39]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2015	33	[40]
Rough Trade	Albums of the Year 2015	28	[41]
Spin	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	16	[42]
Sputnikmusic	Top 50 Albums of 2015	19	[43]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	47	[44]
The Skinny	Top 50 Best Albums of 2015	31	[45]
The Daily Telegraph	The Best Albums of 2015	—	[46]
The Vinyl Factory	The 50 Best LPs of 2015	46	[47]
Under the Radar	Top 100 Albums of 2015	8	[48]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Victoria Legrand; all music composed and arranged by Beach House.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Levitation"	5:54
2.	"Sparks"	5:20
3.	"Space Song"	5:20
4.	"Beyond Love"	4:24
5.	"10:37"	3:48
6.	"PPP"	6:08
7.	"Wildflower"	3:38
8.	"Bluebird"	3:56
9.	"Days of Candy"	6:16
Total length:		44:44

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Depression Cherry.[8]

Beach House

• Alex Scally
• Victoria Legrand

Additional musicians Graham Hill – live drums and percussion on all tracks except "Sparks" and "PPP" Chris Bear – live drums on "Sparks" and "PPP" Voice/choir majors at Pearl River Community College – vocal chorus on "Days of Candy" Lane Stewart Lydia Howard Lindsey Strahan Mallory Cumberland Ethan Martin Jacob Cochran LaDona Tyson – organization Archie Rawls – organization

Production Beach House – production, mixing Chris Coady – production, mixing on all tracks except "Beyond Love" David Tolomei – engineering Jay Wesley – assistant engineering Shane Wesley – "all around dude" Morgan Stratton – assistant engineering Manuel Calderon – mixing on "Beyond Love" Greg Calbi – mastering Artwork Brian Roettinger – design Beach House – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[49] 34 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[50] 13 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[51] 35 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[52] 20 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[53] 16 French Albums (SNEP)[54] 30 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[55] 81 Irish Albums (IRMA)[56] 27 Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[57] 3 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[58] 12 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[59] 37 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[60] 24 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[61] 58 UK Albums (OCC)[62] 17 UK Independent Albums (OCC)[63] 2 US Billboard 200[64] 8 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[65] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[66] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position US Independent Albums (Billboard)[67] 38

References

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