Beck - Hyperspace
Beck as the chameleon, it’s one of the most consistent
pigeon holes lobbed out by the music press and one that has long offered the
clichéd comparison to David Bowie as it’s accomplice. It’s the easy response to
a musician who doesn’t like to sit still, and an excuse for those writing off
his failures as only necessary misses.
It’s what brought about the near-universal coupling of 2014’s Morning Phase to 2002’s Sea Change as something more than just
stylistic similarity. It’s what is currently yielding comparisons between
Beck’s newest album Hyperspace and
2017’s Colors. In reality, those
styles are pretty distinct, but what is apparent is that on his last few albums
Beck has lost that boundary-pushing spark he once trail blazed and has left the
door open as to whether these really are just misses on an otherwise near
perfect track record.
In the last month, Beck has flooded the news cycle, from his
denunciation of Scientology to his speculation of the damage done to his
masters during the 2008 Universal Studios fire, doing all he can to drum up
clicks and hashtags in the afterglow of Hyperspace’s
release. Those headlines are pretty easy to explain away, Beck’s retcon of his
Scientology past may be a response to his February divorce from Marissa Ribisi,
the mother of his children and notable Scientologist. As for if Beck’s original
master recordings and unreleased albums were actually destroyed in that
Universal fire, he recently had to walk back his comments after getting in
trouble with his management. Similar to Beck’s ever-evolving genre hopping; his
mythos has always been consistently in flux, even when he just trying to get
some press for his work.
Growing up in an impoverished area of L.A. Beck spent his
nights sleeping under his dining room table and getting picked on as the only
white kid in his school. Growing up amongst his father, an arranger and
composer, the growing Hip Hop community around him and his few folkie friends,
Beck ended up dropping out after junior high and moving to New York City. Beck
would break on to the scene as a leading figure in the burgeoning anti-folk
movement before going to release Mellow
Gold’s and it’s top ten hit “Loser” back in 1994. Since then Beck has
maintained his cultural ubiquity, releasing Odelay
and Midnight Vultures, two of the
best albums of the 1990s and in the 2000s avoiding a role as a legacy act
with the commercially popular Guero and
Sea Change.
By the 2010s he had reserved a niche amongst his peers as
one of the more consistent and respected musicians still recording. Morning Phase was one of the most hotly
anticipated albums of 2014 and although only a solid effort, it went on to win
Beck ‘Album of the Year’ at the Grammy’s beating out the near shoo-in Beyonce’s
self-titled behemoth. After that surprise win, Beck has seemingly flat-lined,
creating some of the most maligned music of his career and alienating much of
his core following that had stuck around for nearly two decades. After the long
gestation of his follow-up Colors,
many eagerly anticipated hearing what a Beck-pop album would sound like, the
results were mixed with Greg Kurstin’s production not doing much to salvage the
few genuinely decent songs on that album.
This time around it’s Pharrell Williams as Beck’s man behind
the boards, and overall he is a little more successful with creating the
specific aesthetic that Beck is looking for. Although sufficiently less upbeat than
Colors, Hyperspace is not an introspective downer, instead, each track has
at least a bit of the hi-fidelity hypnagogia that has become so popular in our
80’s centric culture. The results of that collaboration are actually pretty
strong, one of the better songs here “Uneventful Days”, is saturated in synths
and vocal effects with crisp and layered production and surprisingly strong
melody. Interestingly, the worst song on Hyperspace
is also the biggest outlier from the formula. “Saw Lightning” the lead single, feels like a throwaway single, one that would be released on a greatest hits
album or maybe two years between projects just to keep the public interested.
It is obtrusive and obnoxious and with its slide guitar and harmonica feels
alien on an album this space-oriented.
Luckily the majority of Hyperspace
maintains the somewhat tongue-in-cheek synth worship, leaning into it here
and there but never for the sake of the song’s quality. “Die Waiting” seems
like one of the more low key hold over’s from Colors, apart from a few shimmering vaporwave pastiches. This is Beck at
his most idealistic and schmaltzy. The chorus is catchy enough to stick in your
head but the words feel empty and saccharine as if Beck was simply covering an
Ed Sheeran song. However, the more pop-oriented Beck does find more luck on the
down-tempo “See Through”, while the verses simply help to bind the song to the
album’s decor, the chorus could genuinely be found on a pretty good trap song
and seems to present Beck at his most forward-thinking in years. The title
track here brings together an amalgamation of styles all rolling over the same
synthy soundscape. It presents Beck’s attempts to be both hammy and meditative,
the best and worst his tendencies on Hyperspace.
It’s not as overtly sacrilegious as it could be, but it is nevertheless a
missed opportunity.
Throughout the album, it seems that the atmosphere is really
what’s carrying the weight and on many of these cuts that’s likely the case but
on “Stratosphere” the best track here, Beck offers a genuinely moving and
catchy hook over his intricate guitar playing and the swelling synths that
harken back to some of the most resonant moments on Sea Change. On the other hand, towards the end of the record we
hear “Star”, probably the most Beck
song here. With its vaguely hip hop drum beat and quick sputtering delivery, it
may be nostalgic for some, but still feels out of place on this retro album. The
moments where Hyperspace feels out of
sync creep up a few more times than they probably should and when the
production and aesthetic are so clearly intertwined, it’s hard to maintain the
singular experience you can tell Beck is hoping for
There’s no doubt that Beck like’s to switch up what he’s
doing occasionally, and it’s no surprise why, with artists like Mac DeMarco and
Grimes being heavily criticized for trying to slightly traverse even the same genre, it must be liberating for
someone like Beck to be able to do pretty much whatever he wants and pull in repeat
listeners. Hyperspace has a good idea
too, and pulls off the skeleton of that idea well enough. The problem here is
that the songs themselves are few and far between, while Beck’s knack for
melody and conceptual ingenuity come in handy, it’s no doubt that over the last
few years he’s been running out of steam. Every artist slips up occasionally;
it’s just harder when it comes from Beck.
~4.5
Comments
Post a Comment