Hyperspace/ Beck - alternative

By Narendra Kusnur 

Album: Hyperspace
Artiste: Beck
Genre: Alternative
Label: Capitol Records
Rating: ***

Since he made his debut in 1993, American alternative singer-songwriter Beck Hansen has been pretty prolific, releasing amazing albums like Odelay, Sea Change and Colors. His style is very eclectic, drawing from folk, rock, blues and hip-hop but blending it with electronic effects, samplework and dominant chorus lines.

On his latest album Hyperspace, mostly consisting of songs of gloom and failed relationships, he teams up with singer-rapper-producer Pharrell Williams on seven of the 11 tracks, and even has a guest appearance by Coldplay’s Chris Martin on one number. Individually, the songs have their strong points, but overall, the album somehow lacks the funk and fizz of the previous gems. You don’t mind playing it in the background, but very little grows beyond a point.

After a short introduction on ‘Hyperlife’, one is pleasantly surprised to hear the tabla on ‘Uneventful Days’, where he sings “Uneventful days, uneventful nights, lying in the dark, waiting for the light; caught up in these never-mending battle lines, everything has changed, nothing ever feels right.”

‘Saw Lightning’, featuring Williams on vocals, drums and keyboards, is a well-constructed blend of synths, folk and hip-hop, and ‘Stratosphere’ is an ambient track with Martin lending variety. ‘Die Waiting’, as the title suggests, is about being continuously hopeful that a relationship will kick off.

Tracks like ‘Chemical’, ‘Star’ and ‘Dark Places’ just seem like fillers that offer nothing new. But Beck makes up with the melodic album closer ‘Everlasting Nothing’, where he sings, “Nowhere child, keep on running, in your time, you'll find something, in the everlasting nothing.” Some haunting choruses boost the song’s impact.

From the production angle, Hyperspace is a snazzy piece of work, blending live takes with computer-generated pizzazz. Maybe Beck needed a few more uplifting tracks, and some more experimentation. Most songs don’t take you into hyperspace, actually.