New Beck Album: Ride Lonesome

The sunshine memories of a long-lost Laurel Canyon have continued to seep into Beck Hansen's bones and reflect back through a reverb-soaked pool, morphing into the shape of song forms and sheets of orchestral tone poems.
There is a slow-motion quality to Ride Lonesome, that comes from its down tempos, and incredible restraint from Beck's longtime collaborators; Jason Falkner (guitar/keys)[Tape Op #35], Smokey Hormel (guitar), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (bass)[#93] , Joey Waronker (drums), and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keys). The recording is lush, and reminiscent of some of my favorite records from the '70s. There is also the signature dry drum sound heard on Beck's classic from 2002, Sea Change, a tone and technique found on many productions from 50 years ago.

Ride Lonesome feels a bit like a welcome continuation of where Beck left off with Sea Change and Morning Phase. It is another collection of great songs, masterfully performed, produced, arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered. The songs feel connected to one another, and collectively have a story arc that almost seems like a lost art these days. I love that the same guy that made Modern Guilt (also a personal fav), Odelay, Guero, and The Information, also made a trilogy of albums that would be at home in Gordon Lightfoot's catalog. This album sounds like fall, and I cannot help but roam the melancholic paths and caverns of my mind while listening to it.
Ride Lonesome was produced by Beck, engineered by David Greenbaum and Erik Brauer, mixed by Nigel Godrich, mastered by Paul Hicks, and the masterful string arrangements were done by Beck's father David Campbell. Recorded at United Studios (Room B), and at Beck's personal studio Pink Noise.