Colors by Beck: Ezra Furman, The Horrors, Glass Animals, Marika Hackman, Bastille and more pick favourite tracks

‘It feels more analogue, looser, and has that sonic playfulness Beck has always been the master of. Then we have the words. I’m pretty sure no one else on earth can rhyme the words “jiu jitsu” and “shih tzu” and still sustain a sense of badassery’ - Dave Bayley, Glass Animals

Blue-eyed boy: Beck released ‘Colours’, his 13th studio album, earlier this month

Colors by Beck veers sharply away from the melancholy seen in Morning Phase, its 2014 predecessor.

We asked 12 artists – from Ezra Furman to The Horrors, Bastille to Susanne Sundfør and Mystery Jets, to tell us about their favourite track on the record.

Furman, Tom Furse of The Horrors, and William Doyle [formerly East India Youth] also wrote about their favourite song from Beck’s back catalogue and why it means so much to them.

Favourite Beck songs:

Ezra Furman on “Heartland Feeling”

Buried in the depths of Beck’s back catalogue is a brilliant bitter ballad called ‘Heartland Feeling’, which goes beyond parody to suggest a whole view of the human condition. The song’s perfectly Beckian characters, in contrast to the noble small-town protagonists of Springsteen and Mellencamp, are idiots with no heroism or future to speak of: sometimes, Beck reminds us, life is not romantic, just stupid and bad.

The Horrors on “Devil’s Haircut” (written by Tom Furse)

As a musically unenlightened 13-year-old it was always a thrill when it would pop up on MTV as it was clearly a cut above the rest. As I’ve come to understand its context, it’s clear that Beck had an admirable ability to reach across genres and pick the most exciting elements from which to make his music with. Unlike many of his peers though, his sound remain timeless. It sounds fresh despite displaying some watermarks of its era. A completely effortless vocal and, oh, it has one of the best, and easiest to play, riffs of all time.

William Doyle (formerly known as East India Youth) on “Nobody’s Fault But My Own”

Of all the Becks, I think melancholy Beck has been the most enduring in my life, and this song is perhaps the best evocation of that. The Mutations album that this is from was a big soundtrack to my suburban teenage years and ended up being very influential to me musically and lyrically.

COLORS

Corinne Bailey Rae on “Seventh Heaven”

Beck always surprises me. After the gentle, open, acoustic, all-to-tape Morning Phase, this record is such a contrast; breezy, pacey, all twinkly synths and slinky guitars. I love Beck’s way with a concise guitar riff; this one starts and stops in a ‘cut-up-like-a-sample’ way.

I wonder if it’s an intellectual exercise for him… I love his inventiveness and strong sense of self. You can imagine him, narrow-hipped and wide-eyed in some New York club dancing to this. The song is fizzy and light with angelic harmonies lifting upwards, uncynical and optimistic.

Glass Animals on “Wow” (written by Dave Bayley)

“Wow” basically sums up the reason I love Beck. Much like the Beatles did on “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide…” he strikes that fine balance between quirkiness and cool that is very hard to get right. Sonically, it’s Beck taking on a more modern sound, with the trap hats and the tuned 808s… you get the swagger of a Dr Dre instrumental but done in his own way.

It feels more analogue, looser, and has that sonic playfulness Beck has always been the master of. Then we have the words. I’m pretty sure no one else on earth can rhyme the words “jiu jitsu” and “shih tzu” and still sustain a sense of badassery. I’m pretty sure no one would even think to rhyme those words in the first place. But Beck does it, and its not just silliness… it’s clever.

The lines together create two totally contrasting but totally relatable images. That flair is rare nowadays. Sometimes it’s nice to have words that just make you smile. Thank you Mr Beck.

Karen Elson on “No Distraction”

“What I need, what I need right now, is all right in front of me.” So says Beck in this powerful tune. On first listen it gives me a vision of Eighties soundtracks circa Electric Dreams meets the Police. The anticipation of the pre-chorus leading into the soaring chorus has all the makings of an anthem for our time.

“No Distraction” in an age where we are chronically distracted. I know Beck as a family man – our kids are friends and the gentle and kind man playing with the kids also has a wishing well of endless creativity which lives within him. “No Distraction” makes me want to get in my car, drive fast, play it loud whilst singing my heart out, and in our complicated world sometimes that’s the tonic we need.

The Horrors on “Dear Life” (written by Tom Furse)

In an album soaked in distinctly modern electronic pop, “Dear Life’”stands out as having its roots in the sounds of a different era. The chords echo the unmistakable harmonic sensibilities of the psychedelic Beatles and the honky tonk piano and a simple, powerful, beat brings to mind “Hey Bulldog” in particular.

Much like the rest of the album, the track is incessantly melodic, with a more conventional palette of sounds, in stark contrast to the bendy pan pipes of “Wow”. It’s classic songwriting, pulled off by someone who knows their way round such things; elegantly and without waste.

Susanne Sundfør on “I’m So Free”

Music needs to be free. It needs to flow in its own ways and not be analysed and dissected to bits and pieces, because music is a different language, and in a way, writing about music doesn’t really make sense, because it will never be about the music. Because it isn’t music. This will be a very unprofessional review of Beck’s “I’m so Free”.

I took a cab from the airport and into New York City. It’d been a while since I’d been there. I put my headphones on and blasted the song as we crossed the bridge into Manhattan, and as I was listening and watching the skyscrapers I became quite overwhelmed by the power of the architecture and the fantastic song that accompanied it.

The song took me back to the first time I heard Nevermind as a teenager. I felt like it was a world I wasn’t supposed to enter. I wasn’t cool enough. And then I realised that in music, I could do whatever I want. The music could be whatever it wanted to be and I could be whatever I wanted to be in it. It was the first time I really felt so free.

Flume on “Dreams”

“Dreams” comes out of the gate hard. It’s like a ray of sunlight, the song you want to put on first thing in the morning to wake the hell up.

Bastille on “Colors” (written by Dan Smith)

I like that he uses a mad panpipe part and vocal pitching, which both feel like current pop tropes, but it doesn’t feel like he’s trying hard with them. They fit seamlessly into the slightly mad, but warm, soundscape that he’s created.

William Doyle (formerly known as East India Youth) on “Dear Life”

I really like how “Dear Life” comes ploughing in with confidence. I feel like most of Beck’s best pop singles have this sort of conviction to them: “Girl”, “Sexxlaws”, “Cellphone’s Dead”... the list goes on. As soon as each of these starts the intent is clear and the hooks are strong. I really like the very “musical” flourishes in the chorus of “Dear Life” too, the odd phrasing structures and the chords.

There’s plenty like that in this song, and on the rest of the album, that keep a fresh and exciting feel throughout without lapsing into formula. I also like that this track is something of a new hat for Beck, who is already the man of many hats (both literally and figuratively now). It’s great that he’s still finding new ground to cover.

Mystery Jets on “Up All Night” (written by William Rees)

For those who relish the surprise of Beck’s more experimental musical wanderings, “Up all Night” might sound a little too 2017 for their liking.

With that on board, however, the song exemplifies the sonic schizophrenia and cross-pollination of genres that is so prevalent at this time, sounding as current as just about anything you’re going to hear. Its blitzkrieg offensive of pop hooks and the elusive meaning of its lyrics seems to me a mirror of these times. Enjoy.

Marika Hackman on “Fix Me”

“Fix Me” conjures up the sort of nostalgic feeling which wouldn’t sit out of place on a mid-Noughties romcom soundtrack, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. The production is simple and allows the melody to carry you through, while hitting all the right emotional spots – from the cello’s pulling warmth through the bass and lush piano lines twinkling across the top.

It’s the perfect song to imagine yourself driving to at night time through the countryside while staring out the window with your thoughts. After such a huge pop record that’s so high energy and eclectic, it provides a fitting wind-down and a welcome moment of introspection.

Everything Everything on “Colors”

Some kind of great flute motif I like a lot. Beck is having fun again! Nothing escapes the pitched vocal thing these days.

Juanita Stein of Howling Bells on “Square One”

My love affair with Beck started with those sliding beer bottle notes of “Loser”. I must have played that EP and the follow-up album, Mellow Gold to the bare bones. I was in love with the intent sloppiness and riddled lyricism of everything he did. Since then Beck has been on an upward trajectory of musical exploration.

He seems to work in cycles, folk-infused blues to calypso-inspired party music, back to introspective folk again. So it makes sense that after his Grammy-winning Morning Phase that the follow-up, Colors, is a return to his upbeat dance self.

“Square One” is a jagged, catchy nugget of a tune, it dabbles heavily in Phoenix territory, for that matter it dabbles heavily in French pop territory. Taking its cues from Sebastian Tellier’s brilliant, sleazy and intelligent pop, it’s clever and catchy and I look forward to the miserable folk album which will surely follow.

Colors, the new album by Beck, is out now