As the title suggests, Sea Change, the latest album from Beck, is a drastic turn for the musician known for his funky beats and electronic edge. The project is a brooding, introspective album stripped of the heavy digital layering that Beck mastered on albums like Midnight Vultures and Odelay.
His first track, "The Golden Age," begins with a melodic mix of Wurlitzer, glockenspiel and acoustic guitar that are together reminiscent of several Velvet Underground tunes. "These days I barely get by. / I don't even try," slurs Beck, his melancholy setting the tone for the rest of the album. Beck's vocals hint at an anxious desperation just beneath the surface of the entire recording.
In an album full of angst, "End of the Day" is a particularly moving song. Compared to the rest of the tracks, the song is stripped down, and Beck is at his most vulnerable. The focus is on Beck's voice. Minimal instrumentals swell during the chorus, as Beck's voice grows in strength and then deflates. And just when you least expect it, the song trails off, leaving a sense of something missing -- which is exactly what this album is about.
On "Guess I'm Doing Fine" Beck leaves the impression that he is anything but fine, ruminating over his isolation against a background of slow, twangy guitar: "I just wade the tides that turned, / 'Til I learn to leave the past behind."
But there are some upbeat, plugged-in songs on the album. On "Sunday Sun" Beck utilizes some of the unusual musical layering that has become his trademark. The song starts with a happy-sounding, faster melody that quickly spirals into discordant piano. "There's no other ending.../ Yesterdays are mending," he sings confidently. Beck
takes the nearly recognizable, upbeat tune and twists it like an image in a funhouse mirror. The song becomes a caricature of itself, until it explodes at the end into cacophonous rage of electric guitar.
This is not the smarmy, party-animal music of previous Beck albums, but rather an intimate glimpse of Beck's vulnerability. What unifies the album is that the songs share melodies that pulse and surge like waves on a beach, receding before they can really break.
