Indiana is still a frozen wasteland, and so I remain hidden away in my cave. It’s cozy here, basking in the warmth of the silk scarf draped over the neon lights, but sooner or later, a guy gets tired of spending all day reading and watching car crash compilations. Thankfully, it has been a busy season when it comes to new releases. This week, one in particular caught my eye, a new 8-track album, “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime,” from founding alternative musician Beck. This is his first album in almost seven years, so I was quite excited to hear it. I built a little nest of quilts and pillows on my living room floor, grabbed a forty from the fridge, and settled in for a solo listening party.
Before I even hit play on the record, I noticed something: the opening track is “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime.” Now I can imagine you are already questioning my curiosity at this. “Dusty, you silly bitch,” I hear you say, “what’s weird about starting an album with the title track?” Well, nothing. What’s weird is that this is a cover; it was originally written by the Korgis, which Beck did in 2004 for the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It’s always a brave choice to start your album with a cover, even more so to start with a cover that is over two decades old. Strange move, but it holds up, so you can’t be too mad about it.
The title track wrapped up, and along came the second, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” I listened to it for about a minute before I realized that this is a cover of an Elvis song. Two covers in a row piqued my interest, so I pulled up the track list and was astonished by what I saw. “I Only Have Eyes for You,” a cover of a The Flamingos song, “Michelangelo Antonioni,” originally by Caetano Veloso, “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” written by Hank Williams, “Love,” a cover of the John Lennon tune, and “True Love Will Find You in the End,” first composed by one Daniel Johnston. The only original Beck song on the whole album is “Ramona,” which isn’t even new; it was written in 2010 for “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.” There is not a single new original song on this album, which is sort of a bummer after seven years without a new record, but whatever. What’s important is whether the album is good or not. So, is it?
Yeah. Yeah, it is. You may have guessed from looking at that track list that the LP is fairly somber, being exclusively made of slow songs with overwhelmingly acoustic instrumentals. This is probably not what you would be expecting from a Beck album; I know it’s not what I had pictured in my mind. Do not go into this wanting “Guero” because you’re not going to get it. What you are going to get is a tight collection of lovingly selected classics, each of which has been given a healthy dose of that original Beck sound. It’s obvious when you hear this album that it’s Beck; his sound is uniquely his own, and even when covering songs, it shines through. One thing I will say is that the majority of this album sounds like wedding music, and I have to wonder if that was purposeful, considering the cover is the man himself in a white tux slouched over in the cherry red backseat of a convertible, looking like his blushing bride-to-be just popped him in the jaw. The one exception to this is the cover of “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” which is pure old-school country, much better than the dogwater stadium country of today. I can’t stand that garbage, but unfortunately, it’s the in thing right now.
Every one of these songs is meticulously crafted with strenuous amounts of care. Beck has done every single artist whose work he interpreted proud. I could see any one of these tunes becoming a tour staple, except “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime,” of course, as that one already is a live show standard. This is a fantastic record, but I do think it’s my duty as a journalist to say buyer beware, this is not the alt-rock riot you may be looking for. That being said, if you’re a seasoned Beck fan, then you already know that he is capable of pulling off these sorts of sickeningly sweet, gentle ballads. If you’re not in the know, then you’re going to learn real quick. You can find it streaming wherever you get your music now. I recommend listening to it as I did, curled up in a burrow of blankets. You’ll want the comfort for when this collection of songs about love and loss repeatedly jams a rusty shiv right into your heart.
