Odelay is very much a revolt of principle, and its songs’ messages are never clearer than in the melodies themselves. “Hotwax” starts off as a banjo-laden country tune but then disintegrates into a breakbeat rap song, no doubt becoming inspiration for a legion of white, pseudo-hip-hop bands like Citizen King, who were likely influenced by the artist’s Caucasian dopeness. Matching themes to their seemingly appropriate genres (or anti-genres)-pop, jazz, folk, hip-hop, country, psychedelic, experimental, and noise rock-each track has its roots, and its flourishes: “Devil’s Haircut” is rooted in blues, “Lord Only Knows” in country and “Jack-Ass” in folk, but each song throws its respective classification on its head, layering the conventions with foreign instruments, beats, and hooks. The resolute confidence with which he accomplishes his sonic experiment becomes all the more important when considering the album’s cultural implications: Odelay isn’t just the product of one artist, it’s a defining statement of an entire generation in the throes of finding its own voice.įor an album with such a dense sonic clutter, Odelay’s most surprising feature is its relative coherency. 1996’s Odelay found Beck collecting the grooves of generations past and reshaping them into a postmodern tapestry, merging countless samples and styles into one cohesive whole. Hyperspace received two nominations at the 2020 Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.Of the artists that emerged immediately following Nirvana’s breakthrough in the early ’90s, none were more adequately labeled than Beck, whose music was easily the best example of “alternativeness.” Whether amassing all of his musical facets into a single work ( Odelay, Midnite Vultures) or distilling them into so-called “departures” ( Mutations, Sea Change), Beck’s irreverence has always been unmistakable. Hyperspace received generally positive reviews from critics, though some commented that the album is occasionally superficial and lacked the complexity of Beck's previous projects. Exploration in collaboration with NASA JPL, featuring artificial intelligence generated space imagery and two new songs. In August 2020 Beck released an accompanying visual album titled Hyperspace: A.I. Following its release Beck did a series of interviews, mainly focussed on the album itself, Pharrell's contribution to the record, and Beck's creative process. Guest vocalists for the album include Chris Martin, Sky Ferreira, Pharrell Williams, Terrell Hines, Alex Lilly and Roger Joseph Manning Jr.įour singles were released prior to the release of the Hyperspace. Thematically, Hyperspace explores heartbreak, sincerity, solitude and Beck's relation to them. The album art reflects this style, featuring Beck in front of a Toyota Celica, with the album's title in blocky Japanese script. Music journalists describe the album as synth-pop and vaporwave aesthetic-inspired, though Beck draws from several genres. Recording for the album started in late 2018. The album is a collaborative project with high-profile producer Pharrell Williams, who is credited for production and features on several songs. It followed Beck's divorce from his wife Marissa Ribisi in February 2019. It was released through Capitol Records on November 22, 2019. "Hyperspace is the fourteenth studio album by American musician Beck. Seven of the album's 11 tracks-including single "Uneventful Days" and the previously released "Saw Lightning"-feature co-writing and co-production from Pharrell Williams. Unfolding new dimensions in sound, Hyperspace's futuristic spectrum is the result of one of Beck's most collaborative albums to date. In the decades since, Beck's singular career has seen him utilize all manners and eras of music, blurring boundaries and blazing a path into the future while simultaneously foraging through the past. As the title of his brand new 14th album Hyperspace would seem to imply, seven-time Grammy winner Beck has traveled light years from his emergence as a reluctant generational spokesperson when "Loser" exploded from a rejected 1992 demo into a ubiquitous 1994 smash.
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