In songs like “Die Waiting” and “Dark Places” (the titles tell you plenty), Beck combines the exuberant studio mischief of 1996’s Midnite Vultures with the sumptuous introspection of 2002’s Sea Change to eccentric, genuinely compelling effect. But that seesaw of antique blues and modern artifice sums up this album’s perfect storm - the raw fear of time running out and darkness closing in, rendered in pop beats and colors. Pharrell Williams, Beck’s chief accomplice on Hyperspace, drums in martial-funk time and speed raps like a digital assistant in a rush. Beck sings of great fire and flooding, praying for rescue in a strident android’s tone - like Skip James in Auto-Tune - and overdubbed layers of galactic doo-wop. Most of the song’s apocalypse comes in contemporary kicks. That is the Beck who jumps out here in “Saw Lightning,” in looping spasms of acoustic, skidding Delta slide guitar. Album DescriptionSomewhere inside every album Beck has made since Mellow Gold - his 1994 surprise attack of slippery irony and hip-hop bravado - is the solo folk-blues singer caught on that year’s One Foot in the Grave, writing about despair with a surrealist edge while turned toward hope. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. Martin, Choir - Kanisha Leffall, Choir - Kimberly Cook, Choir - Tiana Paul, Choir - Tunay Raymond, Choir - Viviana Owens, Choir Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David Greenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tai Phillips, Choir - Ivan Wayman, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jacob Lusk, Choir - Carl F. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Andrew Coleman, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Beck, Producer, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Shawn Everett, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Roger Manning Jr., Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Alex Lilly, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Larson, Engineer, Programmer, Programming, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Princess Fortier, Choir - Ben Sedano, Asst. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo More infoīeck Hansen, Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Pharrell Williams, Producer, Drums, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Drew Brown, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Eric Eylands, Asst. Beck never lingers upon either his melancholy or his celestial flights of fantasy: they exist simultaneously, resulting in a tremulous and pretty soundtrack for moments of fleeting introspection. Chalk that up not to the electronic instrumentation but rather a light touch. To that end, Hyperspace exists on the same astral plane as Morning Phase and Sea Change, but it never feels as fussy or formal as those sad opuses. It's music for twilight contemplation, not so much a soundtrack for regret as soul-searching. It's a clever concept and the music itself is often clever, the strummed acoustic guitars getting blown out in waves of analog synth bliss. Such is Beck's sincerity, he winds up stumbling into territory pioneered by Todd Rundgren's Utopia, indulging in the shimmering electronic soft rock of "Chemical." Despite the frenetic rhythms of "Saw Lightning," "Chemical" is a better indication of Beck's intentions: he's making a sequel to Morning Phase in the guise of a synth record. With its layers of analog synths and drum machines, it's hard to escape the new wave trappings of Hyperspace, yet the album is devoid of nostalgia or irony. Beck worked with a few other collaborators on the record - Greg Kurstin, the producer of Colors, is credited on "See Through," Sky Ferreira sings on "Die Waiting," Coldplay's Chris Martin is on "Stratosphere" - but the partnership with Williams is what defines Hyperspace, giving it its sleek retro futurism. The collaboration ballooned from a single into an EP and, ultimately, the core of Beck's 14th album. At the conclusion of the supporting tour for 2017's Colors, Beck headed into the studio with Pharrell Williams with the intention of contributing to a new N.E.R.D album, but they wound up hitting it off. Hyperspace is one of those Beck projects that came together quickly. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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