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BECK Sea Change (2002)  Rating (out of 10): 10 Tracklisting: The Golden Age/Paper Tiger/Guess I'm Doin' Fine/Lonesome Tears/Lost Cause/End Of The Day/It's All In Your Mind/Round The Bend/Already Dead/Sunday Sun/Little One/Side Of The Road Beck's 2002 release 'Sea Change' came as something of a revelation to me. Not possessing any of his previous albums, yet having heard quite a few of his tracks I had him pegged as experimental and a bit weird. I considered him as someone talented, but someone who I didn't really 'get', someone who didn't really have anything to say to me. Or so I thought. But listening to Sea change completely changed my opinion of him. I initially heard it through the doorway of my flatmates bedroom who had bought it and played it incessantly. And even those mere muffled sounds from the next room were enough to make me go and buy it. And for the next few weeks I was in musical heaven, not wanting to listen to anything else. I couldn't believe how beautiful a record this was. The perfectly titled 'Sea Change' hails a massive change in direction for Beck. The American singer-songwriter leaves behind the experimental post-modernism of tracks such as 'Devils Haircut' and instead has taken a much more personal approach, the amount of sincere personalty present in this record is incredible. Mainly written about the breakdown of a long term relationship, 'Sea Change' is a pretty bleak, stark record in places, with immensely personal and melancholy lyrics, but it is saved from being depressing by the utter beauty of the orchestration, and sheer amount of personality in it. The feel of the album is soft with luscious string arrangements and introspective lyrics. The main thing that will strike you about this album is how different Beck's voice is compared to previous albums. He actually sings, and his voices is so beautiful. Unaffected, true to himself. There is so much of Beck himself in this album and it really shows. There's a very prominent Nick Drake influence in 'Sea Change', in the overall sound of the album in general, the guitar work is very reminiscent of Drake's unique plucking style, and in track's such as Round The Bend which has that very haunted, stark, dream-like drake sound to it and Sunday Sun which appears to be Beck's answer to Drake's Saturday Sun. The first track on the album 'The Golden Age' is an absolutely amazing song and it definitely gives you a flavour of what the album is going to be like. It is delicately well crafted with the lyrics setting the tone of the album as a whole - 'These Days I barely get by, I don't even try'. When I first heard 'Paper Tiger' I hated it. It didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the album and seemed almost like it was left over from one of his previous albums. It's more experimental in style and devoid of the prominent acoustic guitar that characterises the rest of the album. But listening to it on my walkman on my way to work one day the luscious orchestration suddenly struck me and it all made sense. The strings are so beautiful and compliment the sparse style perfectly. 'Guess I'm Doing Fine' sees Beck give a wonderful vocal performance and makes you wonder where he has been hiding this beautiful voice all these years. Listening to songs like this almost makes you feel cheated. All this time Beck has been holding out on us singing songs like 'Loser' and 'Devil's Haircut' when all along he was capable of tender, beautiful, personal songs like this. 'Lonesome Tears' has a very country feel to it with a beautiful string arrangement and more wonderful vocals. His voice sounds deep, muted, full of emotion. It's the sort of voice that doesn't leave you easily. It will always be there inside your head, singing for you long after the CD has ended. 'Lost Cause' was the first single of the album and is probably the most commercial track on it, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful. It is a very simple yet heart-rending track with a gorgeous guitar accompaniment and the most glorious wispy special effects noises that send shivers down the listeners spine. 'Round The Bend' is a very Nick Drake-esque track with it's haunting, atmospheric feel. The comparison to Nick Drake here is amazing with his voice even sounding very like Nicks. 'Already Dead' is without a doubt the bleakest song on the album and contains the darkest lyrics - 'It Feels like i'm watching something dying'. With this song, as in the whole album, Beck expresses pain and agony in a beautifully comforting way, something which only Nick Drake before him has managed to achieve. 'Sunday Sun' is about as upbeat as it gets for 'Sea Change'. There is a certain positivity about it which is lacking in a lot of the other tracks, but like the Nick Drake track 'Saturday Sun' implies a brief glimpse of a promise which will never come to fruition. 'Little One' is as delicate as its name suggests. It's a sort of bitter sweet lullaby that fits in with the themes of the album perfectly. 'Side Of The Road' ends the album on a soft beautiful note and leaves you feeling all warm inside. 'Sea Change' is an absolute masterpiece of an album. It's definitely Beck's greatest work to date and I can't imagine him ever matching it. Listening to it, it's hard to imagine it as being a Beck album. It stands alone as one of the most beautiful albums ever made and you can't help but connect with this voice and this music. Excruciatingly painful in parts, it paints a bleak, desolate landscape, yet it's impossible not to love it. Misery never sounded so good. Send A Comment
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