When Beck first came on the MTV radar
in 1994, the perfect poster child for the eternally disaffected
generation X, very few would have predicted that he would outlive his
kneejerk one-hit wonder status – a label that many great musicians
have suffered under and some have even been tarred with for their
entire professional lives. Even fewer still would have thought that
in 20 years’ time he would be considered by some as one of the most
restless and innovative players of his era.
If you only know Beck as that gangly
weirdo that brought us ‘Loser’ in the 90s then what you’ll find
in Morning Phase might come as a shock. The gorgeous, swollen
arrangements in ‘Blackbird Chain’ are night to ‘Devil’s
Haircut’s day. Those who have followed his work more closely over
the last 20 years are more likely to see this new album in terms of
his natural progression as an artist. The willful wackiness of
yesterday has been dialed right back which leaves the focus squarely
on his song-writing abilities and the pretty melodies therein. This
is “the process” in action and at its finest.
He has already
spent some time (and entire records) inhabiting the realms of country
blues, junkyard hip-hop, alterna-rock, and sleazy funk, so the shift
to soft rock almost seems inevitable. When taken in as a whole, it’s
easy to see how Morning Phase can fill the role of spiritual
successor to Sea Change (an opinion widely heralded in the
months leading up the album’s release) without coming off as a
re-tread of old ground. The key to that sense of newness comes from
not only the fact that it’s been a decade since he released an
album of this sort, but also how different Beck treats the material
in 2014 compared to 2002.
Firstly these tracks are more fully
fleshed out, often far detached from the bare bones acoustic sketches
he had done in the past. Secondly, the underlying resolve in his
music today is not only stronger than before but also better
deserved. This is an older, wiser, and more resolute Beck than we
have ever heard before. He succeeds at this due in part to the fact
that he hasn’t subscribed rigidly to any one denomination (or
definition) of ‘easy listening’. Sometimes it comes in the form
of a gentle country pop number (‘Say Goodbye’ for instance), a
friendly sing-along number prompting lighters to be waved in the air.
Others still come from the perspective of crystalline electronica. A
track like ‘Unforgiven’ could have been a dirge if it wasn’t
for the granule of hope that lies at its core, bouncing around amidst the
rolling keyboards. It bleeds right into ‘Wave’, a grandly
orchestrated number wrapped up in its layers of synthesizers like a
safety blanket. Others still cherry pick bits and pieces from all of
these concepts and more besides. At a first listen these layers don’t
readily expose themselves to the listener but they slowly begin to
unravel with multiple plays through.
Morning Phase is very much a
story of Beck reminding us that he is a vital, restless artist even
if he never again reaches the popularity of his so-called 90s heyday.
He might not be gyrating madly on our screens and singing about how
modern life makes him want to obliterate his mind with crack cocaine
any longer, but we have learned to never count him out in the freak
department. Did you ever hear his last album, Song Reader? To
do so you pretty much had to perform it yourself as it was only ever
released in sheet music form. Beck seems content nowadays to bounce
between the various extremes of his musical personality, flaunting
his impressive versatility at every turn with every new release. The
great thing about Beck is that you are never sure what to expect
until it arrives. Morning Phase might not be everyone’s cup
of tea but in a world where in-your-face strangeness risks becoming
passé, then a gentle and friendly album like this is its own kind of
rebellion.
Rating: B
Recommended tracks: Unforgiven,
Blackbird Chain
