Beach House

Devotion (Carpark)

Baltimore duo Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand proved aptly named on 2006’s self-titled debut, a mixture of sunshine pop and Mazzy Star reverb. With follow-up Devotion, they’ve gone from rolling around in the sand to a full-on séance. Scally continues to use slide guitar as the heavy current into which Legrand’s organ falls, but her voice has matured. On “You Came to Me,” she purrs, “This is the right time for the game we play,” with sensual force, recalling Nico without lessening the fever-dream feel. The stunning “Gila” hangs in the air, Legrand pushing her vocals through the fog as she stretches “gila” into four syllables and Scally’s chiming guitar counts down the minutes. The intoxicating arrangements of “All the Years,” “Heart of Chambers,” and closer “Home Again” prove Devotion is haunted, a force hard to resist. (Beach House summons Friday, March 7, at Emo’s.)

***.5

This article appears in February 29 • 2008.

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