The title doesn’t tell us much. We already know that Beck is a musical changeling, a chameleon who has flitted from folk to industrial, bluegrass to grunge, hip-hop to funk with more or less consistent success. Since Mellow Gold he has not made a bad album. Sea Change is possibly his best.

Reprising (uncharacteristically) the plaintive, acoustic mode of Mutations, but suppressing that record’s melodic arabesques to make space for dark emotional cargo, Sea Change is a superficially simple, instantly beautiful work. That its subtle complexities gradually become apparent without distracting from its stark passion is thanks in no small part to Nigel Godrich’s masterful production.

Opener ‘The Golden Age’ sets the tone, and the tempo, for the album: country-tinged, glacier-slow, gorgeously sad. The lyrics are personal, poetic, a far cry from the free-associative babble on which Beck cut his teeth: “Put your hands on the wheel/Let the golden age begin/Let the window down/Feel the moonlight on your skin.”

‘Paper Tiger’ introduces Joey Waronker’s magnificent string arrangements, which are central to Sea Change’s heart-rending quality and are present on most tracks. ‘Lost Cause,’ emotionally the ‘lightest’ track on the album, harks back to the pre-Geffen One Foot In The Grave, and ‘Round The Bend’, a scarily atmospheric lament, is so redolent of Nick Drake it can only be an intentional homage.

It’s difficult to pick a stand-out track, first because the sustained pathos of the album scarcely wavers over its 12 tracks, second because it’s so feverishly good. ‘Sunday Sun’, ‘Little One’ and ‘Lonesome Tears’ are representatively superb. Only ‘Already Dead,’ an unremarkable and strangely anonymous ballad, lets the side down.

At times it defies belief that this is the same Beck who served up alt.anthems like ‘Loser,’ psychedelic hip-hop such as ‘Where It’s At’ or the princely funk of ‘Sexx Laws’. But as stated above, if anyone is qualified to teleport himself from celestial pop to the souterrains of pain without sacrificing an iota of integrity, Mr. Hansen is.

Sea Change’s material was written in the aftermath of Beck’s stormy break-up with his long-term partner. A selfish part of me wants to send the girl a bouquet in thanks for her services towards musical excellence. Personal happiness is not conducive to good music. Sea Change is the fruit of a damaged heart, and sorrow never sounded so sweet.