On His 14th album, Beck Is Content to Float Through Hyperspace
The veteran singer/songwriter’s new album is packed with spacey synths and mellow vibes

If you spend much of your time consuming ad-supported video content, chances are you’ve heard Beck’s new song “Saw Lightning” soundtracking commercials for fancy new Beats by Dre headphones.
It’s a cool song that brings together some of Beck’s favorite sonic staples: a skittering beat, heavy bass, record scratching and slurred semi-sensical lyrics. The whole thing is even built around a bluesy acoustic slide-guitar lick that recalls the man’s early DIY work from before he was one of rock’s most reliable shapeshifters. Imagine Beck had the idea to update “Loser” for the 21st century, so he brought in Pharrell Williams to give it some oomph and then he sold it to a global tech corporation. That’s “Saw Lightning.”
It’s also a Zack Greinke-grade curveball for those anticipating Beck’s new album Hyperspace, his 14th full-length. None of the rest of its songs sound like “Saw Lightning,” which is not necessarily a bad thing—just unexpected. Instead, Hyperspace’s other 10 tracks feel like dispatches from a neon-synth future slightly faded by the yawning melancholy of Beck’s last great album, 2014’s Morning Phase.
Pharrell is all over Hyperspace, but he’s most prominent on “Saw Lightning,” which features an assortment of his trademark whoops and shouts and a garbled vocal interlude. Elsewhere, he is apparently content to collect co-writing and co-producing credits on seven tracks and contribute keyboard playing and percussion. There are also collaborations here with mega-producers like Greg Kurstin and Cole M.G.N., as well as guest vocals from folks like Sky Ferreira, Terrell Hines and Chris Martin of Coldplay.