At first glance, Beach House's East Baltimore practice space seems like a typical moody musician's den, with turntables, drums, vintage keyboards and even a half-empty bottle of vodka.
But amid the jumble of amps and instruments lie oddly childish knickknacks, like a hefty unicorn bust, hula hoops and packs of sparkly stickers.
It was here, a year ago, that the Baltimore-based ambient pop duo came up with the title of their new album, "Teen Dream." Surrounded by whimsical toys and tchotchkes, singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally were tinkering with a new song when the words "teen dream" popped out of Legrand's mouth. Legrand thought the energy and youthfulness of the words matched the mood of their new music.
"It felt right, immediately," Legrand said. "We were obsessed and passionate, sitting here late at night with all our stuff around, our hula hoops and everything. Something about it felt very teen-age."
Sinking into a couch in their practice space one recent afternoon, Scally and Legrand seemed a lot like teen-agers themselves, playful and giddy about their future. "Teen Dream," which hits shelves Tuesday, is one of the more buzzed-about indie albums of the year. The 10 songs on it are bolder than anything the duo has done before. It's Beach House's first album for Sub Pop, the prestigious Seattle-based indie label they joined last fall. This month, they'll perform at the Sundance Festival, and next month, the duo sets off on a four-month international tour.
Through hard work and a little luck, Beach House has become one of Baltimore's most prominent bands. But Scally and Legrand see "Teen Dream" as just another step in a natural progression.
"Nothing we do now would be possible without any of the things we've done in the past, period," Legrand said. "I'm mind-blown over how much traveling and how much growth there's been in just two years."
Since Scally and Legrand released their self-titled debut on local label Carpark Records in 2006, their music has always felt otherworldly. On their second album, "Devotion," Legrand's ashy voice was drenched in reverb and paired with Scally's somber guitar work, which made songs such as "Gila" and "Heart of Chambers" plodding and solitary.
From the start, Beach House was a hit with critics. Web site Allmusic called their debut "one of the most mystical indie-pop surprises to arrive in 2006," and The Boston Globe said "Devotion" was "transfixing in the moment and even more so once you've stopped listening."
Scally and Legrand were pleased with their first two records, but after performing the songs hundreds of times on tour, they were sick of how they sounded.
"Devotion" was "really like a placid lake, dark and surging but uniform and two-dimensional," Scally said. "It was flat. It was a natural thing for us to want the songs to be more 'pssshh.' "
As he uttered the last word, Scally stretched out his forearms and fingertips, as though he were casting a spell. With his lanky frame wrapped in a dark green jacket and the hood pulled up over his head, he looked, for a flash, downright wizardly.
Scally's excitement manifests itself on "Teen Dream." The new record is spontaneous and energetic, the melodies propelled by a fresh sense of urgency. Part of this comes from the duo's decision to bring in live percussion. With the first two albums, Beach House relied on electric drumbeats generated from Legrand's keyboards. "Teen Dream" has live drums and drum machines, side by side.
To make the album, Scally and Legrand recruited Chris Coady, a producer who has worked with other indie groups, including TV on the Radio, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Grizzly Bear. Coady, a Baltimore native who lives in New York, was a fan of Beach House's sound before he met the duo.
"It's really beautiful music," Coady said. "When a Beach House song starts, you can instantly tell it's them. They always take you somewhere."
Scally and Legrand were specific about how and where they wanted to record "Teen Dream," Coady said. They needed a studio removed from civilization and loaded with vintage recording equipment. They settled on Dreamland, a church-turned-studio in upstate New York. There, Coady and Beach House spent the better part of last July living and working in the space. They would often stay up to all hours, working 14 or 15 hours a day, Scally said. It was the longest time Beach House has ever spent making an album, made possible by money Scally and Legrand had saved and an advance from Sub Pop.
Legrand's voice has always been the centerpiece, but on past albums, it was clouded in reverb. On "Teen Dream," they didn't use nearly as many effects.
"When we were writing these songs, her singing parts were so amazing, and the performances were so intense," Scally said. "We were like, 'These songs are coming alive. They don't need tons of reverb to have energy and emotion.' "
