Baltimore dream pop duo Beach House are coming to Nelson for the first time as part of their Northern Exposure tour. They will take the Spiritbar stage on September 24.
“We’ve never ventured anywhere in British Columbia before,” said guitarist Alex Scally, who performs with vocalist Victoria Legrand.
“We haven’t put out an album in a while, and when you do there’s a lot of pressure to do all the big cities. This time between tours is the perfect time to do some smaller venues, go to places we’ve never been.”
The band’s most recent album, Bloom, was released in 2012. Scally said since then they’ve been experimenting with their sound and their set lists. They hope to share the results with a Kootenay audience.
“We toured so much after our last record, it became predictable in a way we didn’t like. We weren’t being spontaneous. Now we’re trying to write and explore and let whatever happens happen.”
Legrand is the chief lyric writer, and Scally said he feels privileged to work alongside her.
“One lucky thing is I don’t think I’ve ever heard a lyric of hers I didn’t like,” he said. “But what the music means and why it makes you feel the way it makes you feel is utterly mysterious.”
He said their collaboration involves building on each other’s strengths and developing a piece until it invokes the appropriate emotional response.
“It starts with something so small, a couple chords, one little melody. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. Then we try to keep that feeling alive and make it grow. What that feeling is a mystery. It’s something so deep inside your soul,” he said.
Scally wasn’t sure how to describe their musical genre.
“We love so many things it’s kind of endless. You have no idea. We’re somewhere between hip hop, new age, classic rock, chamber music, glam rock, classical.”
The band also recently released a short film, Forever Still, directed by the band and Max Goldman. It was inspired by Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii. The film features the band playing at various sites around Tornillo, Texas, where the album was recorded. The video is available on Facebook.
Tickets are $25 and are available from July 18. For more information, check out the Beach House Facebook page.