The thirteenth album from singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Beck, is Colors, a sprawling blast of beautiful beat-driven pop rock.
Beck and producer Greg Kurstin have shifted his folky visions onto the dance floor. There are no tidy R&B jams here as Beck leaves the garage rock of albums like Guero behind to get down with futuristic sounds.
Colors lacks the deliberate grit of his earlier albums but explodes into psych-pop funkiness. Beck and Kurstin lean a bit on ‘80s British art-pop, which they raunch up with percussive guitar while Beck delivers the hooks. It’s his strongest vocal album yet.
The album is light but not ‘lite’ – the music is sunny and sweet and the songs have weight. Beck and Kurstin left no loose ends and the album is also Beck’s most polished release to date.
A track like I’m So Free is given slick treatment, despite being a gritty rock track with stomping drums and left-centre guitar.
His ultra visual performance style leaves its stamp on the writing and that’s where the album gets its voice.
Dear Life is Beck’s Beatles-inspired statement – a mini suite of harmonies and ringing pop hooks.
No Distraction is a potent party track that has Beck’s abstract way with song form – a quirky track with unfolding sounds and a hint of humour.
Dreams and Up All Night take off from scratch guitar power riffing into visionary dance anthems without the trappings of nightclubbing, done up with all the colours of the rainbow.
–Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon-based musician who reviews the latest music releases in his column, Street Sounds, every Friday.