This morning as I casually woke up and checked iTunes, my eyes immediately grew wide from the site of Beck releasing new single, “Dreams,” today. As you can gather from context, I obviously was not expecting to wake up to this. I had heard rumors that Beck was releasing new music this summer, but I was unsure whether that was too good to be true.
Beck appeared on many artists’ and listeners’ radar earlier this year after walking away with a Grammy, beating out Beyonce, for best album of the year for Morning Phase. I have been anxiously awaiting Beck’s follow up and along came the single “Dreams” to give me a glimpse of what to expect from his next album.
My eyes grew even wider after hearing the intro as my ears were filled with the sound of a catchy guitar riff and repeated “Ohhhs;” reason being is that right off the bat this sounds like an alternative-pop song which is what I least expected to hear. That was quite foolish of me to expect a certain sound, since Beck proves again and again that he cannot be bound to a single genre as he continues to experiment with his sound after ten albums. This is a true testament to how much of a risk-taker Beck is since he continues to make his sound fresh, leaving listeners waiting in anticipation, not knowing what to expect.
With this song having an alternative-pop sound, it would be against everything in Beck to leave it as simple as that since it also has a mix of electronic and acoustic. “Dreams” is quite a catchy tune that I can imagine and foretell hearing on pop radio in the near future due to its memorable chorus, which would be quite a refreshing change of pace after hearing the same ten songs played over & over. That being said, right when I thought I had this song figured out, Beck throws a curve ball in the middle of the song with a guitar riff accompanied with an electronic beat that interrupts the pace of the song. If that wasn’t already enough, he then continues to surprise the listener by throwing another curve ball to interrupt the first twist that had already occurred in the song by, in true Beck fashion, having a small acoustic guitar solo that is followed by the original pace of the song.
Overall, “Dreams” is a complex, jam-packed song that is a nice change of pace. Beck continues to surprise his listeners with his ever-changing sound and I am very anxious to see if his eleventh album’s sound will be patterned after this song. With that being said, I can never be too convinced until the album is actually released. Until that time comes, I will have “Dreams” to hold me over as I continue to listen to it on repeat.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTM3YPTYNo0&w=560&h=315]
