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Volume CXXXII, Number 4 |
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Ch-ch-ch-changes for Beck
TED REINERT
STAFF WRITER
"In the sea change, nothing is safe," croons Beck Hansen in the climax of his new album. The statement is telling, and there's a reason why Sea Change is the title of Beck's latest effort. The genre-mixing, sample-happy hipster of the 90s is gone, at least temporarily.
The last time we heard from this guy, he was singing "I want to defy the logic of all sexx laws!" and posturing as a 70s disco soulman in pink leather pants on his 2000 album Midnite Vultures. That was a great album, but Beck's extensive usage of his falsetto got so annoying that it made the overall high quality of the album negligible.
Beck still likes pink, which is all over the album artwork, but Sea Change is otherwise light years away. Resigned and depressed after his break-up with his girlfriend of nearly ten years, Beck has stopped playing around and written a collection of sad songs. Sea Change marks the first time that he's put the songs in front instead of the sounds for an entire album. Backed by a full band and wrapped in the floating atmospheric production of Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis, and Beck's Mutations), Beck also proves that he can really sing (one of the many parallels between Sea Change and fellow SoCal alternative veterans Red Hot Chili Pepper's surprisingly mature new masterpiece By the Way).
The drifting space-country sound of "The Golden Age" sets a mood for the album musically and lyrically. Beck's pen has turned from abstract beat poetry to a more straightforward approach, but it's still very good, highlighted by a biting wit. "These days I barely get by / I don't even try," he admits. Two songs later, "Guess I'm Doing Fine" is driven home by this gem: "It's only lies that I'm living / It's only tears that I'm crying / It's only you that I'm losing / Guess I'm doing fine."
The album is populated by a variation of both pretty and depressing ballads. "Paper Tiger" is driven by string flourishes. "Lonesome Tear" is a heavy, building epic. The psychedelic "Sunday Sun" and the haunted, Bowie-esque "Little One" also stand out.
Beck's last collaboration with Godrich, 1998's Mutations, wasn't even intended for mass consumption; but David Geffen somehow managed to steal it from the indie label Bong Load. That album was a loose session dipped in tropicalia and psychedelia. The flavor fit Beck like a glove and Mutations stands as his most enjoyable album. That said, his biggest hit, the experimental, brilliantly original 1996 Odelay! is his most important.
Sea Change, with its country-tinged chillness, is different but equally as impressive as these two and deserves a place in the pantheon of great Beck albums. It should take some time to fully digest but will definitely leave fans satiated until this chameleon completes his next masterpiece.