Beck resurfaces with one of the best albums of his long career.
Beck David Hanson is primarily seen as a great experimenter of genre. His earlier albums married cool indie guitar with a wide range of elements, hip-hop, funk, folk, electronica, whatever he felt like throwing in. Fifth album Odelay was a real zeitgeist catcher that topped all sorts of charts and awards. It wasn’t until eighth album Sea Change that he leaned closer to a cleaner, more classical guitar sound. Ride Lonesome, his first album for seven years and fifteenth studio-album, is following in that style
This is a gorgeous album focused on acoustic guitar,piano and a string section. Beck’s voice sounds fantastic, possibly the most tuneful set of tracks from his entire career. Opening title track ‘Ride Lonesome’ is a stunning slice of 70s-esque Americana, every moment of twanging guitar is well earned.
The album carries on in a similar speed, a meditative and reflective affair. There is nothing to jar that mellow pace, nothing louder or more aggressive. Lyrically it somehow feels very honest whilst simultaneously not being particularly transparent. There are a lot of reflections circling love and loss. A few tracks have a very similar sonic palette. In a lot of albums that might be a problem, but here there is a cohesive end product that benefits from the callbacks.
It is a timely reminder of what a great talent Beck is, certainly one of the better albums he has put out from the fifteen so far.
Essential Tracks: ‘Ride Lonesome,’ ‘Run Away,’ ‘In The Night,’ ‘Failed Words,’ ‘Bleed’ and ‘Disappearing Act.’
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