Morning Phase

I've had a rather on-off relationship with Beck over the years. His chameleon-like musical abilities mean that somebody unfamiliar with his work could listen to two albums back to back and not even realise that they were listening to the same artist. This means that the prospect of a new Beck album doesn't necessarily fill me with excitement; I have enjoyed plenty of his releases, but I've also positively disliked a couple of his efforts too. One of his most distinctive pieces of work is his 2002 album, "Sea Change", produced by Nigel Godrich, which, up until this point, stood alone as arguably his best record (the hugely creative "Odelay" being the other contender) with a dreamy, expansive, acoustic, shimmering character. Now, with "Morning Phase", his first album in six years, he has released a self-produced record every bit the equal of "Sea Change", the album that many fans consider to be his masterpiece. It wouldn't be inaccurate to describe this as a follow-up album to "Sea Change", such is the similarity between the two bodies of work, but "Morning Phase", importantly, still has a character of its very own and, although it doesn't have advantage of the element of surprise which made its older sibling such a beautifully refreshing listen, it is probably the better album.There are echoes of Nick Drake, Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel ("Turn Away", especially) and all of the hallmarks of the late sixties/early seventies folk greats in abundance on this album. I wouldn't want you to think that you were going to hear something stripped down and entirely folk, though, there is definitely something rather sumptuous and grand about "Morning Phase", an impressive vision throughout the set that takes the compositions to a higher level than any simply defined genre. There is also evidence that Beck has learned much from working with Nigel Godrich, as you can almost hear his trademark sound on some tracks and surrounding himself with excellent musicians such as Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Jason Falkner and Joey Waronker as well as a truly wonderful full string section conducted by one of the industry's most accomplished figures, David Richard Campbell (Beck's father) means that this is a magnificently arranged and recorded piece of work, featuring much of the same personnel who made "Sea Change" such a remarkable record. This project has taken him five years to write, record, polish, re-record and develop - it is an intricately-crafted labour of love and the amount of time he has spent on it has paid dividends; it's almost eerily perfect. Quite simply, "Morning Phase" is probably the best album Beck has ever made and, without a doubt, one of the finest pieces of work I am likely to hear this year.

With regards to the music, this has been said many times already. It is a beautiful album, well played, well sung, great songs to get to know and love over many years. I get the comparison to Sea change, but that is also a little misleading. This has a different vibe altogether to my ears. There is an element of chem Trails in some songs, less noticeable drumming by Waronker, and a much fuller sound on the whole. It reminds me of the transition from the first Bon Iver album to the second.......also a comparison with late stage Beach boys is not far off the mark, especially the beautiful Surfs up, I even hear a bit of prog in there at times, which isn't normally good, but works here. I am sure there will be many great reviews, as this is a beautiful sounding album. Also thanks to Amazon's new in-house delivery system (a man in a white van) it arrived the day before release. (unfortunatley I had also ordered the new Sun Kil Moon album - which is truly terrible).However,For those like me that are also interested in packaging and format (I apologise if you aren't). A nice pressing (from Pallas), nice and heavy vinyl, the sleeve art is great, although only the one disc unlike many of the pre-release rumours, and no gatefold sleeve. But that is fine. There is a download card and single sheet with the lyrics and a cool picture - maybe the lyric sheet is a little bit cheap - but overall very good.Plus my favourite thing - the vinyl comes in a poly lined slipsleeve, rather than those terrible recently issued paper inners made out of wire wool!Enoy the format, but most importantly enjoy the music!

This is such a slow, lush, languid, immersive, beautiful record. Like 'Sea Change', which is very much its blood-brother, it puts us behind the wheel of a comfortable but ageing sedan and takes us on a slow, hazy drive through the desert, with Nick Drake in the passenger seat. But if 'Sea Change' was a drive in the cold moonlight, on 'Morning Phase' we're driving into the bleached-out, watery colours of the dawn.Beck has always mined deep into the seams of American musical forms, and never more so than in 2012's 'Song Reader', an album so traditional it was only ever issued as sheet music. Those of us who were lucky enough to see Beck and his pals perform 'Song Reader' at last year's Barbican jamboree might have expected the same gleeful, antic spirit of experimentation and discovery from 'Morning Phase'. No chance. While the new new album is as in love with the past as its immediate forebear (how can it not be with a song titled 'Blue Moon' and a first lyric that begins "Woke up this morning"?), it's also the most restrained, constrained record in Beck's entire canon. Musically, it completely recaptures the woozy feel and texture of 'Sea Change', but whereas that album's lyrics railed against the traps of fate and circumstance, 'Morning Phase' just opens its palms and accepts what life throws at it. Like Beck sings in 'Wave' "If I surrender and I don't fight this wave, I won't go under, I'll only be carried away."Goodness knows we could all do with this kind of blissed-out West Coast sunshine in our lives after the miserable winter we've all just endured. If you have the patience to let its charms slowly enfold you, 'Morning Phase' will warm your bones like a familiar old pullover.

Beautiful laid back album from musical genius Beck. Took a few listens to separate the tracks out from each other as they can blend into one another but the more I listened the more individual the tracks became. My favourite track is now "Waking Light". Stick it in the car and go for a drive early in the morning on a lovely sunny day or even a misty morning and it is sheer perfection.