So, very quietly, Beck released a new song called ‘Defriended’ a few days ago. At first it doesn’t sound like anything he has done before, it doesn’t sound like a Beck song, but is there a specific sound for a Beck song? Probably not, he has always been all over the rock-rap-folk-country music map anyway.
Seriously, for more than one full minute into the song, before I could hear his voice, I had no idea it was written by him! It is all about weird electronica, almost like a melody going backward with drumming firing by squalls, synth swirls and toyish key notes, then the chaotic track continues to surprise us for close to 4 minutes with this collage of layered oddities, bursts of energetic beats, guitar strums, and dis-articulated structure. Did he hang out too much with Thom York and Flying Lotus at Low End Theory?
Actually, Beck is ready to release not one but two albums this year, first an acoustic album (and his first one since 2008’s ‘Modern Guilt’) set for this fall, and a second one which may be a proper follow-up to ‘Modern Guilt’. He has also left his label and the two albums will be released independently this year.
According to Spin, ‘Defriended’ will be available as a single, and not on any of his two future releases. In any case, that’s the experimental and forever innovator Beck I have always liked, ready to surprise us with a busy new jam coming from nowhere but managing to stay Beck-like. The lyrics are not very imaginative though, but defriended? That new word from the Becktionary comes straight from the Facebook culture of course. Listen to this new track below: