Beck has no reason for "Modern Guilt"

Beck can be alternately crazy-fun and goofy, or heartbroken and somber (see Odelay and Sea Change, respectively) but his latest release, Modern Guilt manages to walk the line between the two, creating a fantastically catchy listening experience.
It certainly helps that Beck teamed up with “Danger Mouse” – of Gnarls Barkley - to produce this album; an artist known for showcasing new sides of bands he produces. As he did earlier this year as producer for The Black Keys, Danger Mouse adds some new funk sounds to Beck’s psychedelic rock. Between the two, they create an album that would fit in just as well in the Sixties as it does today.
If the music is where Beck let’s his more fun side out, it’s the lyrics that balance the album out. Songs like “Youthless” and “Soul of A Man” question where our society is going, and the kind of people it creates on the way. “Profanity Prayers” may be as apt a description of the dangers of religious fervor as anyone is bound to hear.
It’s certainly not all doom and gloom by any means. “Chemtrails” is a beautiful song that is washed in organs and guitars, and Beck gets Cat Power (or Chan Marshall) to sing back up on the album’s opener, “Orphans.”
As an artist who goes a different direction with every release, Beck’s Modern Guilt is a step in a new – and exciting – direction.