Album Review: Beck - ‘Ride Lonesome’

Beck is a man of a million sounds and textures when it comes to his style of singing, songwriting, and production. He rose to prominence in the 90’s with his unique sounds which blended elements of slacker, lofi, hip-hop, and experimental music. He’s since gone onto become one of the most prolific artists of his generation. One thing about Beck that’s consistent is that he is always pushing himself to create something different or push the envelope on what he’s done in the past. With his latest release, Ride Lonesome, we see the LA native once again pushing himself and embracing sounds and textures I haven’t heard maybe since 2002’s largely acoustic record Sea Change (which happens to be one of my favorite stuff he’s ever done).

Interestingly, Beck has reunited with the band which he worked with on Sea Change, Mutations, and Morning Phase. The band includes: Smokey Hormel, Joey Waronker, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Jason Falkner. When I heard the title track which Beck used as the lead single had a strong feeling that if he pushed in this direction, I would love the record. He very much did so and I have to say, this is some of the best work that the musician has done over a career that spans decades, genres, and fifteen studio albums since he got his start in the late 1980’s and rose to prominence in the early 1990’s.

In addition to retuning with previous musical collaborators, he also reunited with collaborator Nigel Godrich, who mixes the record. On the sound he has achieved on the record, Beck said: “It had been a decade since we went in the studio and recorded Morning Phase. This time It felt like the playing and the chemistry had evolved and deepened—a sound that’s come together over the decades of working together. While we were revisiting a musical and physical place, it also felt like we were finding new sounds and emotional textures along the way” via presser.

I know I’m guilty of saying this a lot, but this is a strong record overall and is one I would definitely purchase and listen to as a whole. There are portions that are dusty and blend elements of acoustic and country. There are others, such as “For Your Love” which feel much more ambient and feature an orchestral sound. I also think this is one that would play well on your turntable, just because of the sounds Beck is going for hear. The warmth that vinyl can add to a song or record would certainly be appreciated here as only an enhancement, and that’s not to take a jab at the stream, I just think there are naturally sounds and textures achieved by certain instrumentation used.

When Beck is laying the work on Ride Lonesome, I especially felt this during tracks like “Slow Canyon” and the title track (and likely first four or five songs on the record truthfully).

Ride Lonesome is Beck’s first studio release in seven years and I really feel that for me, it’s the crowning achievement for a man that constantly reinvents himself. Let’s be clear, are you going to hear more hip-hop fused tracks like “Where It’s At” on this one? Absolutely not. But the thing is, there is something about Beck’s laid back vocal style that I feel lends itself well to more paired back melodies like you can find on Ride Lonesome. So while I’m sure you could name songs that are “better”, in his discography, for me, I don’t know that I’ve heard a record that is this strong from top to bottom. Not just on Beck’s records, but pretty much anything I’ve listened to all year. And let’s be clear, I’ve listened to a lot of music in 2026.

So while I know it’s only September, Ride Lonesome is hands down the best thing I’ve heard all year and honestly, I’m not sure even I had that expectation of the veteran musician. And before you come at me saying we still have time left, consider that December is largely a scant month traditionally in terms of releases, so that leaves the rest of September and then October and November. It’s been a minute since I’ve given this score but I don’t think the LA native can be denied here.

Rating - 10/10