Atco RecordsJeff Beck‘s latest studio album, Loud Hailer, hits stores today. The record is a collection of sonically striking and topical tunes that feature the talents of two young British female musicians — singer Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg. Beck credits the women with helping him fully realize his concept for the project, which assays the problems we face in today’s internet-obsessed, often-violent world.
“It’s just an alignment with these two girls that enabled me to suggest something that I felt passionate about,” he tells ABC Radio, “and then have the lyrics written, almost [automatically].”
He describes his collaboration with Bones — who wrote most of the album’s lyrics — as “telepathy.”
“You know, like it comes out of your mouth and comes into lyrics,” Beck explains. He adds, “I would correct what I thought wasn’t quite snappy or didn’t say what I wanted to say, but she took it and ran with it.”
As you’d expect, the album showcases Beck’s jaw-dropping guitar skills, but also noteworthy are Bones’ distorted spoken-sung vocals, which were recorded through a megaphone or, as it’s sometimes called in the U.K., a “loud hailer.”
The tracks bear the influence of trip-hop and other modern musical genres, but Jeff says he also found inspiration in doo-wop, folk and artists like Prince and Jimi Hendrix. Among Beck’s favorite songs on Loud Hailer is “Living in the Dark,” which he notes features “a simple Hendrix-style riff” and that he’s looking forward to performing in concert.
Beck closes out the album on a positive note with an almost Bob Dylan-like tune called “Shrine” that expresses hope for humanity’s future.
“I can’t think of a better way [to end the album],” Jeff maintains. “If that had come anywhere else in the running order it wouldn’t have had the same impact.”
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