On its first track, “Cycle,” Beck’s new album Morning Phase begins like its namesake part of the day: very slowly, but then all at once. A gentle orchestra holds two notes, which evolve into a full, moving chord that fades to nothing as the next track begins. This ebb and flow between epic and subdued are major musical motifs of the record. This solidifies Beck’s position as one of the industry’s pre-eminent pioneers of indie music.
The album is lined with lavish orchestral arrangements, courtesy of Beck’s father, composer David Campbell, an established artist in his own right. As a musical giant, he has worked in film scoring and pop music with artists like Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, and Beyonce.
Beck uses the orchestral arrangements in their pure and unadulterated forms, allowing the natural beauty of the symphonic sound to shine through.
A prime example of this occurs on the track “Waves.” The song contains nothing besides the orchestra and Beck’s voice, which resonates over the gorgeous accompaniment. The composition plays with conventional chordal structures, at times dissonant, yet never unpleasant. Toward the middle of the song, the melody crescendos as Beck repeats “Isolation,” which becomes a mantra as chords crash over the listener.
But for the majority of Morning Phase, Campbell’s works serve as a mere canvas for Beck to paint on, using his personal instrumental talent to build additional melodies and add myriad voices to the melodic framework of the album. Indeed, in some of the songs, the orchestral instrumentations fall into the background and slip past our consciousness.
The final track “Waking Light” displays this fusion, exhibiting Beck’s ability to create grand compositions with a wide variety of seemingly insignificant parts. The track begins with a synthesizer and piano duet, as Beck croons “Waking light, it grew from the shadow/Brace yourself.”
The drums then enter with a slow beat, ornamented with simple bell hits. They are soon joined by simple distorted vocal harmonies, as the orchestra re-enters the scene. All of a sudden, we have an expansive and full sound that emerges from nothing. As soon as the track hits its finale, it ends, in a fiery guitar solo, with a spark of distorted noise. A fitting end to a gloriously smooth album.
Voice’s Choices: “Morning,” “Waking Light”
