Originally published in Verbicide issue #8

It’s tough to resist an album that invites the listener to “let the golden age begin” upon popping it into the player. It’s even tougher to leave the lonesome cowboy landscape of the mind that develops upon listening to the rest of Beck’s latest release, Sea Change.

It’s been quite some time since Beck first let us know the intricacies of being a loser back in 1994, and it seems that loser-dom has been Beck’s boon. Since then, he has released a stream of records that show steady musical and lyrical development — musical works in which Bob Dylan-esque mind-bender lyrics meet with acoustic guitar soloing, electric guitar rock-outs, turntable scratches, samples aplenty, and experimentation with a score of musical instruments from the sitar to the kazoo. What began as clever neo-folk got plugged in, went on tour, hit the charts, and earned nominations and awards too numerous to list here.

The 12 tracks that make up Sea Change turn the volume down just a bit by way of mellow ballads loaded with ear-arresting lyrics, plenty of acoustic guitar, and masterful engineering by Nigel Godrich (who did the same on Beck’s 1998 release Mutations). This time, Beck’s signature eclectic mixes give way to smoother guitar melodies spliced with orchestral backup, which treats the listener to a mental vacation to a dream country dude ranch and shows off Beck’s versatility — he’s never been in better voice — in ways previously unheard. This is a great album for those of more tender tastes to get some post-modern joy from one of music’s still-rising stars and for loyal fans to shake their heads in wonder at Beck’s mastery of melody.

(Geffen Records, no address provided)