Beck, 'Morning Phase'

By: David Savage

                There are some bands that I feel everyone else is very familiar with, or they are very well-known, yet I seem very unfamiliar with them. These could be bands that I never grew up listening to, or my parents never played when I was a kid, or just artists that I never explored more deeply. I feel like Beck is one of those artists. The most I know of Beck are mainly singles like “Loser”, “Girl”, and “Nausea”; the ones that everyone knows. When I heard about Beck headlining some festivals this year, and his new record getting some great critical reception I figured now is my chance to get into Beck and see just what he is all about, and it was a great decision.

                 Morning Phase is Beck’s newest full-length studio album in about six years. It is said to be a type of “sequel” to Beck’s Sea Change. When I used to hear the name Beck I thought of whacky guitar and fun, almost psychedelic-rock, full of slide guitar, but Morning Phase has opened my eyes and proven me wrong. Maybe I was quick to judge before actually getting familiar with Beck’s repertoire.

                Morning Phase opens up with a 40 second orchestral snippet that basically paves way for the entire record and flows right into “Morning”, a beautifully slow ballad that sounds vast with vocals enchanted with reverb. This record features a very folk driven acoustic guitar, but not the crazy fast finger-picking type, but a chord-heavy decadence that is coated with the string section. As much as there are some drums present, as well as a prominent string section, it is really the acoustic guitar that takes over the record, for me. Quite possibly my favorite track is “Heart is a Drum”. The picking style on this one sounds similar to Nick Drake, and the bass notes just float so well through the track, then ends up being intertwined with piano fills and whirring effects.

                This album gives off a summery vibe, which surprised me with the February release, but nevertheless brilliant. Topically, this record expands to a more self-reflective theme than previous works. On “Blue Moon” Beck begins with “I’m so tired of being alone/ These penitent walls are all I’ve known/ song bird calling across the water/ inside my silent asylum”, which is absolutely stunning lyricism if you ask me.

                There are pieces of this album that retrace back to the opening orchestra; “Cycle”, “Wave”, “Phase”, and then concluding with “Waking Light”. For being someone who was pretty unfamiliar with Beck prior to now, I must say that I am intrigued and impressed. I love Morning Phase. The flow of this album is arguably perfect. There just something wonderful about an album that flows together and doesn’t feel like a compilation of tracks, and I think that is one of the main reasons I truly enjoy Morning Phase.

Favorite Tracks: “Heart is a Drum, “Blue Moon”, and “Waking Light”