Album Review: Beck - Morning Phase

There are many albums where esteemed artists break from the mould of their musical oeuvre, an action that proves divisive, having hardcore fans either gnashing their teeth or ravenous for more. Not many have drawn hordes of fans based on that one album blip – yet Sea Change has been a record that has stood as a solitary bastion to gentle, intricate songwriting without the pomp and bombast that Beck is known for. Many admirers are fans based on this album alone. Yet it seemed there would never be a repeat performance in these nuanced sonic locales, and after 2008's Modern Guilt saw Beck create a songbook rather than songs, some thought it might be the end of studio recordings altogether.

But Beck has always done what he wants, and with Morning Phase he veers back into the beautiful introspection of Sea Change with a brace of eloquent, sustained sounds. After the prologue of Cycle, the first moments of Morning even mirror the soft, melancholy lilt of The Golden Age – yet rather than feel like cribbing from past endeavours, it comes as a hushed embrace, a wonderful return to the fold. Whilst the hushed weariness and thick, lush orchestration that Sea Change brilliantly evoked is here, there is a sunnier disposition in places too – songs like Heart Is A Drum and Blackbird Chain are more akin to '60s folk-pop troubadours. Let's hope Morning Phase is the birth of a new era and not just another flight of fickle fancy.