Victoria Legrand | |
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 Legrand performing in San Diego, 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand |
| Born | May 28, 1981 Paris, France |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Dream pop [1] |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
| Member of | Beach House |
Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand (born May 28, 1981) is a French-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist of the dream pop band Beach House.
Legrand was born in Paris, France, the daughter of painter Olivier Legrand [2] and niece of the French composer Michel Legrand and vocalist Christiane Legrand of The Swingle Singers. [3] [4] She spent her early years in Paris until age six, when her family moved to the United States, first briefly living in Baltimore, Maryland, before relocating to rural Cecil County. [5] The family subsequently moved to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, where Legrand spent her adolescent and teenage years. [6] She is fluent in both French and English. [5]
Legrand studied piano throughout her early life and adolescence, [7] and, as a teenager, performed in a Led Zeppelin cover band. [8] She graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1999, [9] and subsequently attended Vassar College, where she majored in drama. [10] After graduating in 2003, she relocated to Paris to study acting at the International Theatre School of Jacques Lecoq. [11] After becoming "disenchanted with theater school" [12] and more interested in songwriting and in musical artists such as Le Tigre and Yo La Tengo, she dropped out of the program and returned to the United States, settling in Baltimore. [6]
In 2004, Legrand met Baltimore native Alex Scally, and they quickly formed a two-piece band. [13] Legrand often mentions how organically they work together, and how, in Scally, she found her "musical soulmate." [14] The two have recorded eight studio albums as Beach House: Beach House (2006), Devotion (2008), Teen Dream (2010), Bloom (2012), Depression Cherry (2015), Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015), 7 (2018), and Once Twice Melody (2022); as well as an EP, Become (2023).
Legrand possesses a contralto vocal range. [15] Some music outlets have compared her vocals to those of Nico, and Hope Sandoval's. [16]
Legrand and Scally write music anywhere between eight and 16 hours a day, and strive to create thoughtful music they feel strongly about. [17] Legrand often emphasizes the honesty, thoughtfulness, and authenticity Beach House tries to get across in their music. Legrand laments the references to Beach House as being "wafty, wavy, floaty, dreamy," and insists on the band's loudness and all-encompassing soundscapes they create: "We are a loud band. OK, so it's not abrasive, but it's not soft." [18]
Legrand has said in interviews that she wishes audiences would focus on the craft of their songwriting; She commented, "what you're feeling is the craft, that everything is there with intention," as opposed to the individual sounds that surround "the real meat of it all....There's a lot of great sounds in music, but it's not gonna necessarily make you feel something." [17] She is protective of the identity of the band and cautiously chooses how they expose themselves to their audience. [19]
She has remarked on her love of The Cure, the Cocteau Twins, and Gene Clark, [18] and cited Courtney Love [20] as an influence.
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Slow Life" [21] | 2009 | Grizzly Bear | The Twilight Saga: New Moon (soundtrack) | Featured vocalist |
| "Two Weeks" | Veckatimest | Backing vocalist | ||
| "Seven Stars" [22] | 2011 | Air | Le voyage dans la lune | Lyricist, featured vocalist |
Michel Jean Legrand was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), and additional Oscars for Summer of '42 (1971) and Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983).
Beach House is an American indie band formed in Baltimore in 2004 by current members Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally. Their work is characterized by a hypnotic dream pop style.
Beach House is the debut studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on October 3, 2006, by Carpark Records in North America, Bella Union in Europe, and Mistletone Records in Australia. The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
The Shipley School is an independent pre-K–12 college preparatory school in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 10 miles west-northwest of Philadelphia.
Devotion is the second studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on February 26, 2008, by Carpark Records in North America, Bella Union in Europe, and Mistletone Records in Australia. Written in the early months of 2007, it was recorded at Lord Baltimore Recording Studio within two months. The album was released to mostly positive reviews from music critics and is their first album to enter the Billboard 200 chart, debuting at number 195, selling roughly 3,000 copies upon its release. As of April 2012 Devotion has sold 49,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen Soundscan.
"Used to Be" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House from their third studio album, Teen Dream. It was written by lead vocalist and keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally and produced by them along with Chris Coady. The song was released on October 21, 2008 as the album's lead single and features a B-side of a different version of "Apple Orchard", a song which featured on their self-titled debut album.
Teen Dream is the third studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on January 26, 2010 as the band's debut album on the record label Sub Pop. Internationally, the album was released by Bella Union in Europe, Mistletone Records in Australia, and Arts & Crafts in Mexico. The album was produced by the band and Chris Coady. The duo began recording the album after going on tour in support of their second studio album Devotion (2008), with sessions taking place at Dreamland Studios in Hurley, New York and DNA in New York City.
Bloom is the fourth studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was co-produced by the band and Chris Coady, and was released on May 15, 2012, by Sub Pop, in Europe by Bella Union, in Australia by Mistletone Records, and in Mexico by Arts & Crafts. The album was written over two years of touring and was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, over seven weeks. Building on their previous album, Teen Dream (2010), the duo continued to add live drums to their song arrangements for Bloom, supplementing their drum machine rhythms.
Courtney Melba Barnett is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris in 2012. International interest came with the release of her EP The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas in 2013.
Depression Cherry is the fifth studio album by the American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on August 28, 2015, through Sub Pop in the United States, Bella Union in Europe, Mistletone Records in Australia, Hostess Entertainment in Japan and Arts & Crafts in Mexico. The album was co-produced by the group and Chris Coady, with recording taking place at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana, from November 2014 to January 2015.
Thank Your Lucky Stars is the sixth studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was co-produced by the band and Chris Coady, and was released on October 15, 2015, by Sub Pop in North America, Bella Union in Europe, and Mistletone Records in Australia. The album was released less than two months after their fifth studio album, Depression Cherry.
"Myth" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House. The song was released on March 26, 2012, as the lead single for the band's fourth studio album, Bloom. The song surfaced on the band's website on March 7, 2012, before its commercial release.
Alex Kristian Scally is an American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is known as the co-writer, guitarist and backing vocalist of the dream pop band Beach House, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums.
"Zebra" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House from their third studio album, Teen Dream. It was written by lead vocalist and keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally and produced by them along with Chris Coady. The song was released as the third single off the album on April 17, 2010, with an EP of the same name which features a UK radio edit of the song along with new tracks "The Arrangement", "Baby" and a remix of "10 Mile Stereo".
The discography of musical duo Beach House consists of eight studio albums, one compilation album, five extended plays, and 25 singles. The duo was formed in Baltimore, Maryland by Victoria Legrand as a vocalist and keyboardist, and Alex Scally as a guitarist, keyboardist, and backup vocalist. They met in 2004 through Baltimore's indie rock scene, and would release their self-titled debut album Beach House (2006).
"Sparks" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House. It was released on July 1, 2015, through Sub Pop, as the lead single from their fifth studio album Depression Cherry (2015). A visualizer for the song was uploaded on the band's YouTube channel on the same day.
"Space Song" is a song by American dream pop duo Beach House, released in 2015 as a promotional single from their fifth studio album, Depression Cherry. In 2024, the song was certified platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
"Lemon Glow" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House. It was released on February 15, 2018, through Sub Pop, as the lead single from their album 7 (2018). Accompanied with a visualizer, it was received positively by several publications, with several of them calling it the band's "most danceable track to date".
7 is the seventh studio album by American dream pop band Beach House, released on May 11, 2018, through Sub Pop and Bella Union. It follows the B-Sides and Rarities compilation album released in 2017, which served as a proverbial "cleaning out the closet" to pave the way for a new creative process.
Once Twice Melody is the eighth studio album by the American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on February 18, 2022, through Sub Pop, with its four chapters being released throughout four months starting November 10, 2021. A follow-up of their seventh studio album 7 (2018), they began recording the album in 2018 at their home studio, Apple Orchard Studio, in Baltimore, with additional recording taking place at Pachyderm Studio, United Studio and Village Recorders until July 2021.
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