BECK 404
Hyperspace (Capitol)
Guild Two: Forever (Dirty Hit)
Hanging heavy over this second release from 404 is the tragic loss, back in May, of founder member Mina, known musically as Silvertongue. In her absence, her primary contribution to ‘Guild Two: Forever’, ‘Blind Spot’, feels all the more pivotal, even more acutely the emotional axis around which everything else revolves. She and the other four members of the group are evidently united by thematic vision and shiny production, but their individual approaches vary considerably, meaning that when ‘Blind Spot’ does arrive at the midpoint, its blissed-out, woozy minimalism - not a million miles from Jorja Smith - comes as a welcome reprieve from the intensity of the belligerent, trapdriven ‘Jenny’ and the off-kilter menace of ‘Doubt It’. That was the formula that was established on ‘Guild One’. It’s cemented this time out and, horribly, it leaves you wondering where the group go from here, because Silvertongue is the beating heart of ‘Guild Two...’. It’s not just that she breaks up the sense of suffocating bleakness; it’s that her contributions to ‘Sulaco’ and ‘Hound Pound’ provide such glittering evidence of how adept she was at emotionally mooring 404’s music. What’s next, with Silvertongue gone, remains to be seen, but the release of ‘Guild Two: Forever’ feels crucial in terms of how stirringly it honours her talent. (Joe Goggins) LISTEN: ‘Blind Spot’
ARLO PARKS Sophie
(Transgressive / Beatnik)
You wouldn’t usually look to a 19-year-old to unpick the complexities of hopeless romance but there’s something about Arlo Parks’ sigh of “fuck, I love you” on ‘Angel’s Song’ that unfurls the feeling perfectly, clasping heartstrings in the process. Among a wealth of musical influences that are as far reaching as MF Doom and Sufjan Stevens, Arlo namechecks a number of literary types - Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath and Hanif Abdurraqib to name a few - and it shows. ‘Sophie’ lyrically spells out with all the logic of a dream - hyper-specific details rub shoulders with fantasy which subsequently makes it all the more real. “Having sex in the sky / I think I hate you but I don’t know why,” she sings on ‘Paperbacks In The Sky’. The collage of vintage synths, dusty drum sounds and warm harmonies sees the EP’s centrepiece ‘Second Guessing’ through to a blissful chorus. But it’s Arlo’s vocal that’s the real star here, her rich croon sculpting her carefully crafted lyrics in a fashion which you’d happily listen to way beyond the limits of an EP. (Sean Kerwick) LISTEN: ‘Second Guessing’
68 DIYMAG.COM
Judging by looks alone may well be a fool’s game, but the image adorning the sleeve of ‘Hyperspace’ does in fact give much away about Beck’s 14th. Featuring the musician in a bright white suit, stood in front of an ‘80s red car, hand outstretched to shade his face from the light, it’s a perfect visual metaphor. The record sees him teaming up with a handful of pals - producers Pharrell Williams, Paul Epworth and Greg Kurstin, Sky Ferreira, Terrell Hines - for a pristine collection that’s at once the past’s idea of the future as it is the here and now. The glistening synths that weave their way around ‘Chemical’, ‘Dark Places’ and especially the title track could come straight from the Stranger Things soundtrack, full of dreamy retrofuturism. And still ‘Hyperspace’ is an album that has Beck firmly in the right now, whether thanks to the breathy backing vocals from Sky Ferreira accenting ‘Die Waiting’, the gritty bass propelling ‘Star’, or evidence throughout that he’s updated his white boy hip hop arsenal with sounds from the last few years. This is where ‘Hyperspace’ really heads skyward, particularly via the slow jam vibes of ‘See Through’, or the giddy ‘Love Is A Chemical’, during which he both bends his signature sound to fit the beat, and even makes brief use of a triplet flow. That Beck should choose to magpie from pop’s zeitgeist is no shocker - nor, of course, is it that he’s done it so well - but that ‘Hyperspace’ is quite so seamless in its execution is an utter joy. (Emma Swann) LISTEN: ‘Die Waiting’