Beck has spent his career reinventing himself.
There was the DIY rock, delta blues, and hip-hop of Mellow Gold, the acoustic bossa nova of Mutations, the Prince- inspired R&B of Midnite Vultures, the acoustic folk of Sea Change and Morning Phase, and the glitzy pop of Colors. There was even Song Reader — an album that only existed as sheet music.
But through all those changes, one thing has stayed the same — Beck’s incredible attention to detail.
Whether those details include samples, digital effects and other studio wizardry, or stunning arrangements of analog instruments with strings and subtle percussion, Beck makes music that's always interesting.
With many of the same musicians and studio personnel — and recorded at the same studio where he made Sea Change and Morning Phase — Beck's new release, Ride Lonesome, returns to the introspective folk territory Beck explored on those albums.
Ride Lonesome revisits familiar themes of love, loss, loneliness and isolation. But there’s a different emotional tone to it. Sea Change was born out of a painful breakup. Ride Lonesome, arrives after an amicable divorce. And you can hear the difference — there’s less anger, more reflection, even acceptance.
What makes Beck’s acoustic work more compelling than much of the folk and Americana being made today is the production.
These songs could work with nothing more than Beck’s voice and an acoustic guitar, but that would make them ordinary. Instead, he uses the studio to create something much richer.
There’s a small but telling connection right at the beginning. The opening chord of the title track, Ride Lonesome, is in E major, played in the first position on acoustic guitar. It’s the same chord that opens The Golden Age, the first track on Sea Change.
But from that first strum, Ride Lonesome sounds different.
The guitar has an almost three-dimensional quality. As the song unfolds, its simple, down-tempo chord progression is surrounded by layers of instrumentation, including orchestral strings arranged by Beck’s father, David Campbell, along with subtle percussion and multi-tracked vocal harmonies.
The result is a wave of sound that is immersive and pulls you in, even if you’re just listening casually.
More than 30 years after he first began making records, Beck remains a musical chameleon, moving comfortably between genres.
If there is anything to criticize about Ride Lonesome, it’s that it doesn’t stretch the boundaries of his folky side quite quite as far as he's pushed other aspects of his music. Rather than another reinvention, this feels like a continuation — another episode in the Sea Change and Morning Phase series.
But there’s plenty to appreciate in that familiarity.
Ride Lonesome is meticulously produced, beautifully arranged, and filled with the kind of small details that reveal themselves over repeated listens.
We’ll be exploring Ride Lonesome in the coming months on Open Air — music discovery weekdays 9am-3pm on JPR’s Rhythm and News Service.
