Beach House, “Once Twice Melody.”

Beach House, the dream-pop duo composed of lead singer Victoria Legrand and collaborator Alex Scally, returns after a four-year hiatus to deliver Once Twice Melody. For this outing, the duo crafted an expansive and literary narrative that tackles issues of fame, love, nostalgia and connection—that are segmented across four chapters.

Legrand and Scally are joined by a live string ensemble that backs the band throughout the album, giving many of the tracks a symphonic quality. The album features a number of tracks that incorporate quasi-religious elements through the embrace of organ, backing choir and angelic synths. This creates ethereal sound that will speak to the soul of the listener.

The album opens with the title track, as angelic tones and backing synths mix harmoniously with scaling guitar. The song is about a girl, watching the days go by while trying to make sense of the world around her.

It’s followed by “Superstar.” Climbing synths build to a momentous crescendo alongside light, pulsing drum beats in the background, and Legrand laments falling out of touch with someone due to rising stardom. We then take a sudden turn with a more solemn and ominous synth organ, alongside stabbing string strikes out of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” on “Pink Funeral.” It details the anxiety of performing onstage and examines the stress brought on by the need to constantly innovate as an artist.

The bouncy, infectious tempo of “Runaway” is the kind of 8-bit wonderland many musicians have found themselves drawn to in the last few years. Legrand sings about someone reckless who desperately flees from their problems.

The playful “New Romance” begins with rising and falling strings overlaid on a washed-out, sustained synth note with driving snares and high-hats. It’s followed by seven-minute beast “Over and Over,” which, for its very polished production with a synthetic choir and rolling snares, starts to overstay its welcome after the three-minute mark.

“Sunset” provides a folky acoustic guitar melody as Legrand soothes listeners with her tranquil and comforting vocals. Dual synth tones follow the sounds of crashing waves on “Only You Know.” Snares pick up and Legrand details the emotional highs of a loving relationship; but she may instead be toying with listeners and describing some sort of trip she went on—hard to say!

“Another Go Around” weighs heavy on feelings of isolation and longing for any kind of connection. Light sustained organ keys are paired with the light licks of an electric guitar. “Masquerade” and “Hurts To Love” lean heavily into the sounds of ’80s British synth-pop, further expanding on the themes of nostalgia throughout the album. The low-hitting synths and acoustic guitar on “The Bells” evoke the essence of Leonard Cohen’s somber stylings.

The album closes out on a fairly solemn note with the soft pinging keyboard and guitar harmony of “Many Nights” and the deeply ominous “Modern Love Stories.”

Once Twice Melody delivers so much to unpack, yet there are moments when the album drags on as if the band just wanted to provide long-time fans something extra to compensate for the years away. Beach House manages to provide plenty of great material for listeners, but some fat trimming would help refine and better hone the album’s structure.

Follow editor Tim Hoffman at Twitter.com/hipsterp0tamus.