Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Since 2013, fans were holding their breath in anticipation of a new album, and now they can let that breath out, as multi-genre artist, Beck, finally released his new album “Colors” on Oct. 13. Known for his unique and experimental tones, “Colors” is a fantastic representation of Beck’s musical style.

Rising to fame in the early 90s, Beck was extremely well known for his abstract style of work, which seemed to blend varying musical genres together to create an enjoyable beat that anyone could get into. In the new album, fans can expect the same kind of unconventionality, but will be refreshed with the more modern sound that is encompassed.

Throughout the entire album, a lot of the songs sound totally different from one another, but all seem to carry a certain element. In this album, there are more electronic and synthetic sounds behind simple lyrics that create a sense of uniformity among them.

Though there seems to be a lot happening within the instrumental parts of the songs, it does not seem to overpower the lyrics and can still be heard clearly. With lyrics like, “You sang your swan song to the dogs ‘cause they made mincemeat of the dreams you hung your hopes on” from “Dear Life” Beck gives his songs so much meaning by playing with raw emotion through particular words. Even though the individual songs sound so different from one another, it is not unexpected that each one came from Beck.

For his 13th album, Beck wanted to create something that is “… not retro and not modern…” but kind of somewhere in between the two. “Colors” does an awesome job at enveloping both senses of musical styles while also making it sound like they belong together. The songs in this new album are a clear representation of Beck’s genius by mixing sounds so that they fit well together instead of creating a huge jumble of noises.

In this album particularly, songs are made by incorporating the kind of pop-rock that has appealed to the masses for decades, with the contemporary trends of a younger generation. These songs have multiple things going on all at once, but not once does it sound as if an element is out of place. Beck even refers to them as being “complex.”

Though the 13th album is enthralling enough on its own, it does not capture the eccentricity that people are used to seeing from Beck, who is known for redrawing the lines of popular and enjoyable music with his irregular take on it. With the release of “Colors,” the only thing that could really dumbfound listeners is how tame it seems compared to previous albums like “Odelay,” released in 1996, and “Sea Change” in 2002. It could be that Beck is shedding the zaniness he has had as a commanding approach to creating music.

Listening to this album, it is pretty clear to see that Beck has created a wonderful piece of work that is not only enjoyable, despite the slight yet distinct shift in sound, but touches upon some really interesting themes.

Photo: BeckVEVO via YouTube.com