![]() And yet I also wouldn't describe this album as explicitly psychedelic - the larger sweep of the mix and cushion of reverb across many of these tracks emphasize just how isolated and lonely Beck sounds across many of these mixes if Colors was the dance party where Beck felt ever so slightly out of place, Hyperspace is the soundtrack for the lonely walk home. And what's kind of sad is how that description makes the album seem a lot more lively or 'out there' than it actually is - in truth, there's nothing as strangely alien and magnetic as 'Wow' on this project, or indeed any abrasive or offkilter tone that would compromise the blissed-out haze most of this album inhabits. Granted, it's also one of Beck's easiest albums to describe: atmospheric psychedelic folk Beck made his vaporwave album with the occasional splash of noisy, trap-adjacent percussion you'd expect from Pharrell. ![]() yeah, this is not really that, but it's pleasant enough to go down easy, and at least in comparison with that last Coldplay album, there are broad ideas that feel more developed, and I'll take that at least - ironic because Chris Martin actually supplied backing vocals to a song here, and which ultimately became one of the keys to giving this album a surprisingly rich organic core. If you're expecting wild innovation or the ramshackle creativity that we got in the 90s or even chunks of the 2000s. Honestly, it's better than Colors, but not by much, and at this point Beck will likely wind up in the category of acts that are long past their prime but can occasionally hit on a decent idea or a great song every once and a while. So with all of that in mind, how is Hyperspace? Yes, the fact that it was being co-produced with Pharrell of all people intrigued me - especially as I can see some real common ground between their brands of weirdness - but the last time Pharrell strayed into oddball production outside of hip-hop proper, we got sweetener from Ariana Grande, Wanderlust from Little Big Town, and Man Of The Woods from Justin Timberlake. ![]() Yes, I still like 'Wow' despite myself for being just kooky enough to connect, but if you want the biggest example of how Beck is in a very different space now than he was twenty years ago? I'll tell you: when I saw U2 a few years back, he was the opening act - yeah.Īnd thus, again, I had rock bottom expectations when it came to this new album. But it was also signifying that a guy who had once been framed as breaking from the establishment was very much becoming a part of it simply by getting older, and Colors was sadly a glaring example of this, not helped by Greg Kurstin giving him a sound that was paradoxically colourless - hell, even leaving it on the Trailing Edge I probably overrated it. Yeah, Sea Change is heartbreaking and he always tends to wring out a solid single, but I'm not at all surprised that people were underwhelmed by Morning Phase, even if I still think it's a pretty great album with some phenomenally warm, well-blended textures. ![]() Granted, some of this wouldn't matter if Beck's music had aged a little better or kept up consistent quality. To quote music critic Steven Hyden, part of his charm was that he was a jack of all trades and a master of none, but that can be a curse years later when the genre fusions become routine and folks are no longer impressed - or in the age of broader music distribution and access to a broader array of underground albums that might not have been heard widely at the time, you realize even the genre fusions aren't that innovative. ![]() There hasn't been a serious critical reexamination of Beck's legacy by mainstream rock critics and I think I understand why: if they did, they might come to the abrupt realization that his motley pile-up of genres was more novelty and streamlined craftsmanship than genre-pushing experimentation. and yet time has not been all that kind to him. Beck hyperspace review full#I didn't even do a full review of Beck's last album.Īnd I wanted to, believe me - I've been a fan of Beck for years, his genre-blending combined with an uncanny knack for hooks and some ridiculously sharp songwriting has made him one of those artists emblematic of the mid-90s alternative scene, and often praised as an innovator. ![]()
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