Once pop’s wiliest genius, Beck sounds in need of a proper sea change

Beck has always been at his best when taking sharp turns, veering from warped lo-fi to hip-hop-influenced indie rock to slinky funk. So when the US singer-songwriter released 2002’s Sea Change, a sincere song cycle of genuine heartbreak, it was a revelation from a guy who had previously been pretty wry.

He’s returned to that mode since then, on 2014’s less convincing Morning Phase, and now he’s gone there again on his first album in seven years. And, sadly, it’s a case of diminishing returns.

The title track is a pale facsimile of 2002’s The Golden Age, from the reverb-soaked melancholia to the high-plains drifter lyrics. The low-hanging strings of In the Night repeat his past Nick Drake obsessions, while It Ends Right Here, with sugar-sweet strumming and give-me-a-hug lines such as “All these people that you knew, all these cities you walk through, all this time it took to find you” could be from the Coldplay songbook.

He’s assembled the same band from back in the day and worked with a similar musical template, but too many of the songs remain stagnant, replicating the sonics but lacking the soul.

“I don’t know where I’m going, but it feels like I’ve been here before,” Beck sings on Bleed. He sure has – and he’s done it better. Barry Divola

Robert Baxter, PARTYANIMAL

★★★

From the opening seconds of Robert Baxter’s new EP, you’re transported into the sweatiest, most exclusive nightclub you can imagine. Thumping beats are the order of the day, and if you’re a lover of basslines, you’ll be in heaven (one that is downright debaucherous). I <3 Girls is a celebration of the trans girls and queer girls in Robert’s life and is begging to be played at countless pre-drinks. In Nameless, they embracing anonymity while partying on the other side of the globe, a canonical event for many Australian 20-somethings.

It would be easy to write off PARTYANIMAL as the latest in a long line of Australian pop projects that has wholeheartedly embraced clubbier sounds. However, at the heart of the EP lies a sincerity, with their lyricism revealing a more vulnerable side. BRB is a response to a music industry figure trying to undermine them, while closer Sky City pays tribute to the community they’ve built around themself, far from their origins growing up in rural Victorian town Shepparton.

PARTYANIMAL is the type of project begging to be played at Berghain. It’s best listened to with the lights off and well after a typical bedtime has passed. Ben Madden

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