[rating=9.00]
Thirteen albums into his storied career, alt-pop chameleon Beck returns to a more energetic form with triumphant party record Colors. After the excellent but subdued Morning Phase returned Beck to the acoustic singer-songwriter form that he has visited several times throughout his career, Colors brings back the pop energy of early Beck work.
Colors pulses with energy in its expert blending of pop, jazz, and funk with a dash of alternative rock. It is Beck’s most upbeat and hook-filled album since 1999’s Midnite Vultures. That album, however, like much of Beck’s early work, thrives on chaos, frenetic energy combined with idiosyncratic songwriting, mishmashed genres, and enough dramatic shifts to satisfy the shortest of attention spans. In more recent years, Beck has matured as a songwriter, evolving from writing attention-grabbing yet meaningless lyrics to becoming one of his era’s best poets.
Colors bridges the gap between those sensibilities. The lyrics aren’t as introspective as on Morning Phase but are more meaningful than quirkiness of Mellow Gold-era Beck. The music is up-tempo and entertaining but without the chaotic flavor of Guero or Odelay.
Infectious singles “Dreams,” with its funky dance-rock beat and Beck’s smooth falsetto, and the rumbling “Wow” are high points, but this is an album that is solid from start to finish. “I’m So Free,” which features backing vocals from Leslie Feist, bursts with energy as it transitions between mid-tempo pop, dance party beats, and anthemic rock. “I see the silhouette of everything I thought I ever knew,” Beck sings.
“You counted out what your sins cost while money talks to your conscience, looking like a fool for love,” Beck sings in the breezy piano-driven “Dear Life.” Beck sings of perseverance through struggles and mistakes. “Dear life, I’m holding on,” he repeats as a mantra in the chorus.
The album-closing “Fix Me” is the only slow track on Colors, ending the series of vibrant grooving songs on a more somber note, like turning on all of the club’s lights at the end of the night as a sign that guests must now return to reality. “You might fix me; you might crush me, take a little piece of me, start a new history and trace it back to me,” Beck sings, synthesizers swirling to create a dream-like atmosphere.
Early in his career, Beck proved that he can pick any style of music at random and play it better than most artists who live in that genre. In recent years, instead of showing off that eclecticism, he has been more focused, zeroing in on storytelling through a few interconnected styles. Colors is a dance pop album through and through, but it’s a mature one where Beck allows the songs to prosper by virtue of their songwriting and composition. It may not be quite as catchy as Midnite Vultures or Odelay, but it comes quite close without relying on any of those albums’ gimmickry.
