Baltimore-based Beach House are well-established in the tradition of boy-girl duo making lovesick rock. Their previous two albums have shown just how good they are at their particular brand of American dream pop. Teen Dream could quite contentedly have followed in the predictable wake of two such forerunners, but, as you listen to the album unfold, each song warms through into a new openness without losing the duo’s characteristic blurry resonance.

The opening track ‘Zebra’ begins with a repetitive guitar figure: as Legrand’s voice melts into the texture, the sound deepens into a churning, complicated nostalgia that maintains its more pop-informed sound. The album makes this gesture from incipient movement to dramatic sweeps, and handles this progression with dexterity. Pensive ballads (‘Better Times’, ‘Silver Soul’) gain in weight alongside more spacious numbers. Front to back, the arrangements and sequencing are superb, the depth and sweep belying the ephemerality of this album’s title.

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