Beck has returned with help from Greg Kurstin (Foo Fighters, Adele), and what he has come up with is something along the lines of 2005\u2019s Guero<\/i> and not Morning Phase <\/i>(2014). While the latter was one of the most eye-opening records I\u2019ve ever heard, this one, eh, not so much. The opening title track is decent enough, but it doesn\u2019t jump through the speakers and shout at me. However, Beck\u2019s vocals on \u201cSeventh Heaven\u201d are actually quite impressive and work really well against the uptempo music going on around him. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m So Free\u201d and \u201cDear Life\u201d don\u2019t work at all; they just seem too jumpy and don\u2019t really do much to the landscape of the record. \u201cNo Distraction,\u201d on the other hand, is quite impressive, an upbeat funky jam designed to get the party going which it does very well. \u201cDreams\u201d is a song I\u2019ve never liked and this new mix doesn\u2019t do much to enhance the song. \u201cWow\u201d is just weird. Not like Odelay<\/i> weird, just weird. And like Mr. Horse in Ren & Stimpy<\/i>, I don\u2019t like it! It feels like one of the weakest songs here. \u201cSquare One\u201d is another decent cut that comes close to being really good but falls just short of the prize. <\/p>\n
The album\u2019s current single \u201cUp All Night\u201d follows the same path as \u201cDreams\u201d and \u201cWow,\u201d a weirdo dance rocker that\u2019s trying to find its place in the world. It\u2019s interesting to hear on the radio alongside other dance-rock tracks because in a way, Beck originated this form of stuff that is designed to get people off their butts and onto the floor while also still remaining indie cool. Meanwhile, \u201cFix Me\u201d is the stuff of dreams, a song along the lines of something on Morning Phase. <\/i>It works really well, demanding extra listens. This is one of the best songs of the year \u2013 too bad it\u2019s just over three minutes. Still, it works and just sounds and feels fantastic.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, one fantastic song doesn\u2019t create a great album. Though Beck tries hard and succeeds here and there, the whole release feels like a step back after the artistic triumph that was Morning Phase<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":33301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5717],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-45112","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-beck","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45112"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}