In fifteen years Beck Hansen has assembled quite a body of work. Widely regarded as one of the most diverse and challenging, yet engaging musicians of modern times, Beck has seriously raised the bar with his latest album, “Modern Guilt”. With “Modern Guilt”, Beck appoints Danger Mouse (the genius producer behind the popular Gnarls Barkley) to enhance his work with a backdrop of lush and atmospheric rhythms characterized by his Gnarls Barkley output.
It succeeds admirably, drawing attention to Beck’s signature alt/rap delivery and accentuating his vocals on ballads, such as the gorgeous album closer, Volcano, which could possibly be the greatest song Beck has ever recorded; certainly the most poignant and upsetting.
Beck is no stranger to experimentation and that’s what makes this album great. It’s his most self assured album since 2002’s “Sea Change”, his epic breakup album, which was full of the melancholy and regret that marks the end of relationships. With “Modern Guilt,” it’s almost as if 2006’s dreadful misstep, “The Information” never happened.
Indeed, on “Modern Guilt” some of the songs sound like they could be leftovers from “Sea Change”…either that’s a testament to how good “Sea Change” was or how forgettable his next two albums were – or a little bit of both. 2005’s “Guero” wasn’t really bad but it pales in comparison to “Modern Guilt.”
Highlights on the album include the remarkable opener with Cat Power, Orphans, and the haunting Chemtrails, which features some of the finest drumming you will ever hear on record. The title track delivers and Volcano is one of the more memorable album closers of all-time.
The only serious missteps on this album are Gamma Ray, which succeeds in being duller than an astrophysics seminar; and the second number with Cat Power, a throwaway called Walls. Overall though, “Modern Guilt” is a triumph by the one and only master of reinvention, the raconteur of cool, Beck Hansen.
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