Beck – Modern Guilt

Modern Guilt – Beck

By Aidan Roberts

We’ve been waiting a little while now for the next incarnation of Beck, the ingenius creator of skewy pop hits and everyone’s favourite Scientologist. He’s moved on from the weepy ballads and bubble-gum pop extremes: here we have a denser, highly polished collection, branded distinctly by co-producer Danger Mouse. We open with a mellow-hiphop-come-Beach Boys mash-up Orphans, sassed up with guest vocals from Chan Marshall, followed by a return to the recognizably Odelay-esque Gamma Ray with deft lo-fi sample-hopping and American indie guitar textures. The best track is the insidiously murmuring Chemtrails, again graced with Mashall’s eerie backing vocals. The overall feel here is somehow appropriate to its title – Beck’s unself-conscious lyrics and plastic soundscapes linger with a slightly unsettled air. Danger Mouse crystallizes a new sound while exploiting his sonic signatures. With Soul of a Man we’re startled into a T-Rex stompalong, with the kind of glamourous swagger only Beck can get away with. This is good quality, but feels like it’s headed toward something more momentous with the next record.

***1/2