At the beginning of “Norway”, the new single from Baltimore’s Beach House, there’s a hint of the second-hand organ that dominated most of their self-titled debut.  But then they come crashing in with pristine, breathy harmonies that make it sound like they’re putting that Sub Pop money to good use.  Over a deliriously warped guitar straight out of Kevin Shields’ playbook, Victoria Legrand steps out on this heady Nordic drama, her voice less obscured than usual.  To top it all off, she accompanies herself and makes like a one-woman Supremes on some misty cascading backup vocals.

Teen Dream is out January 26.

Beach House, Norway

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When a band drops an unreleased jam on Minnesota public radio, chances are most people outside of the Twin Cities won’t really catch on. But when that band is Girls, chances are most people outside of the Twin Cities will be trying to figure out how to cop said jam. The kid-tested, Pitchfork-approved act busted out a San Francisco treat for the listeners of the Land of 10,000 Lakes in the form of “Heartbreaker” – a mid-tempo lament that finds lead Girl Christopher Owens pining for a lost youthful love. “When I said that I loved you honey, I knew that you would break my heart.” I think this dude needs a hug. Check it out below or over at the Current, where you can take in a gab sesh with Mr. Owens and hear live takes of Album faves “Ghost Mouth” and “Lauren Marie.”

This is the part where the girl walks away. Most likely it’s in slow motion and the camera pulls out on the guy as he drops the flowers to the floor. The girl is making her way to the door, pausing momentarily to look over her shoulder at him. There’s a hint of a smile, or a smirk, or something that no one can pin down before she heads out and the credits roll. Ever so slightly everyone winces in a heartbroken agony. “Now that we’ve lost our way, the rest can all fall apart.” Jeez. Tearjerker material here. Asobi Seksu have recorded a few bare bones updates of their already-cinematic dreampop for the album Rewolf, recorded in a flash at London’s soon-to-be shuttered Olympic Studios. Beneath those gossamer vocal effects and fuzzy blanket guitars lay some sublime melodies and affecting lyrics that are given a life of their own with this set of revisions. Check it out 11/10 on Polyvinyl.

Asobi Seksu, Thursday

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“Cornerstone” is the second single from the solid Humbug. When we think of Arctic Monkeys singles, we usually think of something like a derailed express train, steaming through stops with new basslines coming from all directions that accelerate a track to it’s absolute peak within a three minute time constraint. This one, however, is definitely the boys coasting on the local track, with Turner himself even stressing “elongating my lift home” while pining for a girl that might or might not exist. In a way, it’s Arctic Monkeys doing Spoon doing the Arctic Monkeys. This is a good look for them. Unsurprisingly, “Cornerstone” is one of the only three tracks on Humbug not produced by Josh Homme, and this softer side really lets Turner’s smooth, seductive croon seep through. And, you know, it’s pretty hard to sound seductive over all the guitar layers and flam taps Homme probably would have insisted on. Check it out below.

At the very least, hearing “New Fang” made us realize how little straight up guitar-driven power rock exists for our consumption these days. This thing feels like a build up to a build up to a build up where like 15 guitars are simultaneously trying to one-up each other (we mean that in an awesome way). The lyrics didn’t really stick with us all that much on the first couple go-rounds and they probably never will,  but “New Fang” has got us ready for plenty more of the same backdrop come November 17th. Check it out for yourself.

(Via: P4K)