Hyperspace - Beck: Review
is a legendary American singer-songwriter who blew up in the 90's when his lonely stoner anthem Loser became a mega hit. Since then he has been a masterful blender of genres reaching all across the musical spectrum for two decades worth of critically acclaimed records leading up to just a few years ago. In 2014 he released his 12th studio album Morning Phase and was met with critical acclaim and ultimately an Album Of The Year Grammy for his dreamy take on folk music. In 2017 he released Colours one of his most pop inspired records in year to lukewarm reviews from critics, and is taking a more throwback pop approach here on Hyperspace.
Review By Lavender:
You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of Beck's back catalog than me. Odelay is one of the premiere records of the 90's but even beyond that projects like Midnite Vultures, One Foot In The Grave, Sea Change and Guero all sound so drastically different, yet are so consistently satisfying. His 2014 record Morning Phase was a breath of life for folk music that landed in my top 10 records of 2014, but the follow-up Colours wasn't quite as good. I didn't hate the record, in fact I praised it for being consistently average as there really isn't one track that I flat out disliked. The issue with Colours was that it was just so boring and regular by the standards of one of the most inventive artists of the 90's and 2000's, and I think Beck took that criticism to heart as Hyperspace has a heavy sonic and lyrical theme that throws it back to the synth pop world of the 1980's. But despite a clear vision for the album the songs here are some of the most boring Beck has ever written and the nostalgia is more of a cheap tool than a genuine tribute.
I was split on the singles for this record when I initially heard them but they actually make up some of the better songs on the record. Saw Lightning was the first single that came out way earlier in the year and saw Beck and Pharrell putting together a track that is jittery but has a very distinct twang to it. The track is not only catchy but very creative and reminds me of early 90's Beck in a good way. Dark Places is another track that doesn't really fit in with the sound of the rest of the record as it introduces some live instrumentation and the combination of sounds is pretty sharp.
I wasn't a huge fan of Everlasting Nothing as a single but there is a little bit more to it here on the record. It serves as the albums closer and while there isn't much of a progression to the song it is at least a somewhat satisfying closing moment for the album. The opener Uneventful Days was my least favorite single and I still don't like it as the first full song on the record. Beck's rap/singing is incredibly corny but even aside from that there is almost nothing in the songwriting of performance that I enjoy, the track would have been better as an instrumental.
And there are only six more tracks here forgoing the short instrumental opener, and not a whole ton of unequivocal highlights. Chemical has one of the best instrumentals here as it nearly dips into the world of vaporwave with its dreamy and cloudy mix. Beck's singing is catchier and despite the clarity of the recording and its placement in the mix thankfully never takes over. See Through is a super smooth track with a bouncy percussion loop at its core, the songwriting isn't really anything to write home about but I do think the hook is decent ans the autotune is at least carefully applied for a decent overall tune. Hyperspace is actually one of the hardest hitting tracks here and one of my favorites, it does a lot for the records retro themes and really dives into the hyperspace aesthetic that clearly inspired this record.
On the other hand there are some real flat out bad tunes on this record as well. Die Waiting is an airy almost nothing pop ballad with shimmery 80's synths and painfully dry songwriting with almost nothing there interesting enough to grab you. Stratosphere is a super weak track that Beck sings the majority of in his falsetto, including the tracks awful chorus that isn't there at all. Once again the track is just so loose and airy it goes by without making much of any impression at all. Finally Star may somehow be the worst of all as it pairs this really ugly hammed up singing with some dinky haunted house keys that all just sounds so cheap and amateur.
Hyprspace isn't a terrible record, just an inconsistent one. But within the Beck discography and even the greater world of indie music in 2019 there really isn't much here that is notable or significant, even the highlights. While I admire some of the instrumentals here and I admire that the record has a sonic theme it sticks pretty tightly too there just isn't much of anything here that shows off the creativity we've all come to known from Beck. 4.5/10
