Beck Readies an Artistic Statement of an Album

Beck doesn’t have a title for his next album yet, but to hear the people working with him talk, it might as well be called “Career Record.” That was the phrase used a lot when the mercurial musician recently played the album, tentatively due Sept. 24, for a small group of Interscope Records executives, other business associates, musicians, friends and family members.

Reteaming him with Nigel Godrich, producer of 1998’s “Mutations,” the record is a fairly somber set of songs. At times it recalls such models as early Neil Young and Jimmy Webb, several of the tracks featuring colorfully swirling, almost psychedelic orchestral settings overseen by the singer’s father, arranger David Campbell.

It’s miles away from the wry pop-culture explosions of such Beck hits as “Where It’s At” and “New Pollution.” Although “Mutations” had a somewhat similar aesthetic, that album was presented as a side trip. This one is being positioned as an artistic statement, affirming Beck as someone who should be measured by his long-term creative output, not by sales of individual albums or singles.

That’s a key strategy, considering that after U.S. sales of more than 2 million for 1996’s “Odelay,” the lightly promoted “Mutations” and 1999’s more heavily pushed “Midnite Vultures” fell far short of that bar, selling 530,000 and 660,000, respectively. Neither Beck nor Interscope expects the new album to take him back to “Odelay” levels.

“I’m no dummy,” he says. “I listen to the radio all the time and know what’s on there. There was no attempt to fit in and do something within the context of what’s there. But I think it’s obvious that I’ve never catered to radio or anything, never catered to the commercial aspects of the music business.”

Interscope President Mark Williams is thrilled with the album. “This shows that Beck’s a significant artist and will be for many years,” he says. “We’ll just have to be creative [in promoting the album]. It’s a good kind of challenge.”

For some time following “Midnite Vultures,” though, it was uncertain what kind of album Beck would do next.

He regularly remarked that he had as many as seven albums gestating, with styles ranging from acoustic country to rock to hip-hop. He also spent time in the last two years on a variety of collaborations, including work with hip-hop auteur Timbaland (on a version of David Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs” for the “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack) and singer Marianne Faithfull (two songs on her upcoming album).

But more and more he found himself wanting to work again with Godrich, famed for producing Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” “Kid A” and “Amnesiac,” although finding a time when their schedules aligned proved difficult. They finally blocked out a stretch earlier this year, and Beck focused on a side of his creativity he felt he’d somewhat neglected.

“I’m a lover of songwriting and song craft,” he says. “And I’m always honing that in my spare time, so to speak--which is funny. It’s almost as if songwriting is my hobby, the thing that comes last, and when I get to do it, I love exploring and simplifying and becoming more articulate with what I express. This record would be a fruition of a good amount of work.

“The aesthetic on this record is deliberate,” he says. “It’s half Nigel and half me. It’s different from what people probably expect or are accustomed to hearing. The material goes into that singer-songwriter area where it could almost go middle of the road, but keeps its edge.

“Those records are so great that have that certain mood and take you into a terrain, great early-’70s albums, [Joni Mitchell’s] ‘Blue’ and [Neil Young’s] ‘Harvest.’ You know you can put them on and go into that space.”

ZIGGY ZAGS: Ziggy Marley has rarely stuck to a strict reggae formula in his work with the Melody Makers, the group that also features his brother Stephen and sisters Cedella and Sharon. But for his next album, this son of Bob Marley is taking a radical turn.

Working without his siblings for the first time, he enlisted rock producer Scott Litt and is exploring some new territory, with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing bass on most songs and guitarist Mike Einziger and DJ Kilmore of Incubus contributing to recent sessions at a Beverly Hills studio.

“It’s more rock, not refined--pretty raw,” Ziggy Marley says. “This album will be surprising to a lot of people, especially those who still think of me as sounding like Bob Marley. There’s a song on the album called ‘I Get Out,’ and that’s what the song is saying--I will get out of the boxes people put me in. I want to mess with people’s minds sometimes.

“Even my own people, Jamaicans, sometimes they don’t like when I do different things. The roots of my stuff is reggae, my tradition. But I remember when that was new music, it was different stuff.”

The album is due Aug. 27, the first for Marley under a new contract with RCA/Victor. He’ll be previewing some of the new material while on tour as part of a package that includes Sheryl Crow and Train in July and August. The tour stops July 27 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine.

SMALL FACES: “Higher Ground,” the Blind Boys of Alabama follow-up to the gospel Grammy-winning “Spirit of the Century,” is now set for a Sept. 3 release, and features versions of Prince’s “The Cross,” Ben Harper’s “I Shall Not Walk Alone,” the Aretha Franklin song “Spirit in the Dark” and, of course, Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.” ... Punk Rock Aerobics (the name explains it all) is trying something a little bit different with its June 29 class in New York--the Blue Man Group will be guest DJs. The venture is exploring expansion and developing plans for a DVD home workout program.... Pulp’s “We Love Life,” released late last year in England, is getting a belated U.S. issue from Sanctuary Records in late July.... Julee Cruise, the haunting musical voice of “Twin Peaks,” is back with a new album, “The Art of Being a Girl.” ... Kathy Mattea has veered from country to favor folk styles with some Celtic filigree on “Roses,” her first for the Narada label, due July 30. Kim Richey and Beth Neilsen Chapman each wrote songs specifically for the album.

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Steve Hochman is a frequent contributor to Calendar.