Morning Phase
With its lushness and atmospheric beauty, *Morning Phase* is Beck’s most accomplished (and straightforward) musical endeavor since *Sea Change*. Guitarist Smokey Hormel, bassist/multi-instrumentalist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and ex-Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr. give *Morning Phase* its finely detailed instrumental warmth.
On Morning Phase, Beck returns to the style and form of his 2002 singer-songwriter record Sea Change*.* Instead of a much-needed daring comeback statement, it feels more like a pointed exhale.
The idea that Morning Phase is a “companion piece of sorts”—to quote directly from a press release—to Beck’s 2002 album, Sea Change, is a nice way of saying he’s decided to re-explore the same musical terrain more than a decade later. For those enamored of Beck at his saddest, it’s a welcome return: Sea Change and now …
Mr. Hansen revisits the luscious strings of Sea Change for a largely gorgeous twelfth album.
No one expected Beck to return from a six-year absence from traditional recording (he did give us a Song Reader project…
Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Beck 'Morning Phase' (Virgin EMI)If Beck wanted to prove that sequels are only equals (or betters) when they exceed the limits of their predecessor, he couldn’t have made the point much more clearly.
Often pigeonholed as being prolific to a fault, Beck took an extended break from recording after the 2008 release of Modern Guilt.
In the lead-up to Morning Phase, the album has been touted in the press as a return to the style of Beck's exquisitely bummed out 2002 album Sea Change, but that's only half true.
Attempt to connect the dots between Beck releases and you'll rarely find moments where the artist has circled back on himself.
Album review: Beck, 'Morning Phase'. An album of delicate triumphs, Beck's latest LP is a cousin to his 2002 record of great acclaim, 'Sea Change'...
<p>Beck's return to the personnel and feel of 2002's Sea Change makes for a deeply contemplative listen, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>
Morning Phase represents not only a return to form, but also serves as one of Beck’s most graceful efforts.
Beck's first proper album since 2008 is a tale of heartbreak and hope that features some of his best music to date, writes <strong>Tim Jonze</strong>
Beck's new album is a deliciously dreamy return to his acoustic singer-songwriter style, a collection of sun-dazed songs so direct they almost make you squint