Beck today dropped “Saw Lightning,” the first single from his forthcoming album “Hyperspace.” The song is a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, who “contributes drums, keyboards and mumbles,” according to the announcement, while Beck handles acoustic guitar, harmonica and of course lead vocal.
The song is featured in a new ad for Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats Pro campaign (watch it HERE), which is directed by Grammy-winning filmmaker and Donald Glover associate Hiro Murai, who also directed Glover’s film “Guava Island,” which was released over the weekend.
According to the announcement, the album “Hyperspace” will be released “at an as yet undetermined point in the space time continuum.” Okay then!
2019 has been a busy year even by the prolific veteran musician’s standards. He released the song “Tarantula” from the album “Music Inspired by Roma”; the song “Super Cool” (featuring Robyn & the Lonely Island) from “The Lego Movie 2,” and most recently appeared on Cage the Elephant’s “Night Running“; he’ll be touring with that band this summer in a team-up that recalls his 2002 tour with the Flaming Lips.
“Hyperspace,” Beck’s 14th album, follows 2017’s “Colors,” which won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and 2014’s “Morning Phase,” which won Grammy Album of the Year.