Beach House are one of those bands that leave a reviewer struggling for adjectives. If I was to have to describe their sound to someone who had never heard them before then I would probably verbally flail around a bit (as I am, indeed, doing!) then come up with terms like: lush, other-worldly, disembodied, soporific, spook-glam, swooning. In fact, they are one of those bands that should be treasured in large part because they really don’t sound much like anyone other than themselves. The closest comparison I was able to come up with was The Cocteau Twins (also, perhaps significantly, a Bella Union band), but then when I thought about this a little more I realised that the comparison was valid only inasmuch as both bands sound unique.Victoria Legrand’s amazing vocal allows her to deliver lines that on paper sound prosaic, such as “Come over to my house / I’ll pour some tea for us / One sugar or two?” (from 'Astronaut') as if they are being beamed from a warm-water bath on Mars. The tone throughout is quite disengaged, the aural equivalent of being filmed through a muslin gauze, but she has such a range (as illustrated with particular strength on 'Turtle Island') and such (slightly disturbing) beauty in her voice that the listener is nonetheless drawn in. Particularly gorgeous singing can be found on one of the album’s stand out tracks 'Heart of Chambers', and the icy vocal warms slightly on 'Home Again', the last track, which contains the lyric that gives the album its title: “Constant home for my devotion”.Musically the band use slide guitar to great effect. Adding a Hawaiian feel on tracks like album opener 'Wedding Bell' (which works here surprisingly well combined with the lolloping “lonesome cowboy” rhythm). A range of organ sounds, from Hammond-esque ('Gila'), to more sombre and church-like ('You Come To Me') and even, on 'Astronaut', replicating a cheesy Bingo Hall style. flow through the record. Never predictable, although always sounding very much like themselves, another favourite stylistic quirk is to vary the melody or time-signature half or three-quarters of the way through a track. This means songs like the wonderful 'Gila', 'Turtle Island', 'Holy Dances' and 'Astronaut' (where the variation takes the form of a last quarter pastiche of / tribute to 'Be My Baby') never sound trite, and keep you intrigued and listening closely right to the end.Their cover of Daniel Johnson’s 'Some Things Last A Long Time' is ushered in with atmospheric rainfall sounds in the introduction. Interestingly, though, they manage to make the song their own, and I have to admit that I would not have pegged it as a cover version if I hadn’t done a spot of research before finishing this review.All the above is supported by a nicely oblique set of lyrics. Using occasional alliteration (“Friend, foe or feather” from 'You Came To Me') and arresting declarations like “Oh! but your wish is my command” ('Wedding Bell') and “Man, you’ve got a lot of jokes to tell / So you throw the baby’s pennies down the well” ('Gila'), which often sound as if the songs are being sung to a specific person.And that, really, is as much as I can manage, on paper at least. My cache of emergency spare adjectives is all used up”¦ This is a band whose music you need to immerse yourself in, to appreciate in all their strange and compelling loveliness. Plunge in. 85%mp3:> Beach House: 'Gila' Links Beach House [official site] [myspace] [tour diary] [20 questions]