BECK HYPERSPACE REVIEW FULL

Rather, it's a beautifully understated album with subtleties that reveal themselves on repeat listens. It certainly isn't the 49-year-old songwriter's most urgent or radically inventive work. Aching mid-tempo ballads 'Stratosphere' and 'Everlasting Nothing' sound like a synth-filled reimagining of Sea Change. In lieu of titanic choruses, Hyperspace highlights sublime synth-scapes: 'Uneventful Days' adds a splash of Auto-Tune to Beck's vocals amidst twinkling arpeggiators and stuttering drum machines, while title cut 'Hyperspace' juxtaposes acoustic plucking with sci-fi keyboard swells. There aren't any clear bids for radio ubiquity, and the vibe often resembles the toe-tapping melancholy of 2008's Modern Guilt. But despite the record's slick pop sound and star-studded contributor list - Sky Ferreira and Coldplay's Chris Martin both get vocal credits - it's a relatively subdued affair.

BECK HYPERSPACE REVIEW FULL

His fantastic live shows are all-out parties, and his albums are pleasant if a little predictable: 2014's Morning Phase was a retread of his folksy classic Sea Change, while 2017's Colors was full of radio-friendly pop bangers that would probably sound great in a Target commercial.Īnd now here's Hyperspace, an album written and produced largely alongside hit-maker Pharrell Williams. Oh well, maybe he’ll wake up next time.After a couple of decades of exploratory mutations, Beck has entered the crowd-pleasing phase of his career. A sad and boring end to a fairly solid decade from one of Rock’s brightest creators. It’s an issue when the cover art is more cool and interesting than most of the album, and even then it’s just Beck and a car. Plus, the penultimate track ‘Star’ offers a nice trip hop beat and a vaguely dance ready groove. ‘Chemical’ is a nice pysch pop number where Beck actually sounds like he’s interested and the closer ‘Everlasting Nothing’ breaks away from the dreariness and monotony of the rest of the album with its gospel tinged sound. And hey, maybe that was the point, maybe it creates a nice chilled atmosphere, but would it kill him to just emote a little? Even on the album’s most lively and bouncy cut, the awful ‘Saw Lightning’, he sounds like he’s barely keeping himself awake. Tracks mush together into long continuous lumps of dreary synthesised boredom (‘Die Waiting and See Through’ are the two most egregious examples of this) and Beck himself sounds skull ***ed bored through nearly the whole thing. There isn’t much driving force or creativity going into this one which sucks given how Beck is generally regarded as one of the most original and creative minds in music. But the problem here is that Hyperspace just feels empty. Now, I’m all up for a sweet late night drive record and honestly, if Beck made a full on chill out ambient pop album, I’d be all over that. Sure, Hyperspace is a rather calming and pleasant record and its synthpop beats and sounds make it another part of the man’s ever growing smorgasbord of style, but it’s also, frankly, boring.

“But wait!” I hear you say “Doesn’t this make it stand out from his other work?”. It’s a mellow album, never getting too heavy or wild, instead always sitting comfortably at easy tempos and dreamy melodies.

feels like a step back.Ĭo-Produced by Pharrell Williams, Hyperspace seems to follow down the path Colors took in being a very accessible poppy record, though instead of relying on dance floor ready beats, it’s instead layered with synths and drum machines to create what feels like the comedown from Colors’ mad rave up. Sure it was a straightforward modern pop album that didn’t take any risks with itself, but with Beck, it felt like another chapter in his strange and wild discography. He’s never stuck to a certain style, which is why 2017’s ‘Colors’, While certainly a confusing turn around, still felt fresh. Each Beck album is distinct and different from the scratchy lo-fi rumblings of ‘Mellow Gold’ to the mournful and mature ‘Sea Change’, and so on and so forth. Known as a true chameleon of rock, the man established himself on mixing a vast collection of genres and styles on his records (often on the same song), from hip-hop, folk, funk, blues, noise, electronica - you name it and he’s probably dabbled in it. It’s weird to think Beck has taken such a hard right turn with his music.

Beck hyperspace review