Single Review: Beck – ‘Blue Moon’
2 min read
The thing about Beck is you never know what you’re gonna get, and that’s what makes him such a great artist. For every song he makes with random instruments, key changes and sometimes completely off-the-wall brilliance, he has an equal talent for making chilled out beautiful acoustic laden pieces, such as songs featured on his 2002 album Sea Change. And the Sea Change album is where new single Blue Moon would feel most at home, focusing on the folky, country side of Beck, which will be a welcome return for many fans.
The airy-floaty sound of Blue Moon creates an almost happy feeling, working wonderfully by contrasting this with pretty depressing lyrics, almost tricking the listener into thinking the singer is in an upbeat place. This way of writing is used on many of The Smiths tracks and Beck recreates this atmosphere with ease. But there’s no getting away from the fact Beck is in a dark place here: “Cut me down to size, so I lock the fear inside” sings Beck, a perfect analogy for the happy on the outside, sad on the inside style of the song.
Beck’s voice is also on form, actually sounding very genuine, sitting well with the acoustic approach, featuring the mandolin amongst other stripped back instruments. The addition of some great harmonising adds to the songs exuberance and creates and almost angelic feeling most noticeable in the choruses. There’s also a delightful breakdown almost half way through which splits up the track nicely.
You can tell it’s a lovingly crafted track and Beck’s back to basics approach shows that he still puts as much effort and thought into the simpler songs as he does to his more out-there tracks. Being the first single from new album Morning Phase, fans should be looking forward to this record if Blue Moon is anything to go by, which is a melancholy but whimsical slice of greatness.
