Beck invites listeners to celebrate the eve of his birthday with the gift of a physical release of two acclaimed performances previously available only as digital singles. Available for pre-order now at Beck.com and the Capitol Records Online Store, and in the singles bin at your favorite indie shop tomorrow, July 7, “Thinking About You/Old Man” (Capitol) will be issued as a limited edition golden-brown vinyl 7” single in a picture sleeve sporting the artwork for each song.
Originally released in February of this year, “Thinking About You” was the first new original Beck song to be released since his Grammy-winning Hyperspace album. A sublime ballad in the tradition of classics Morning Phase and Sea Change—and incidentally recorded in the very same room as the latter—“Thinking About You” features Beck’s wistful vocal and acoustic guitar tones accompanied by Blake Mills (guitar, mandolin), Justin Meldal Johnsen (bass), and Roger Manning (keyboards).
“Thinking About You” has been lauded by Consequence as “heart-wrenching” and SPIN as “beautifully sad,” while American Songwriter raved, “The song is stripped bare to reveal Beck’s roots as the mellow, moody songsmith that made listeners fall in love with him in the 1990s.”
Beck’s cover of Neil Young’s “Old Man” was originally released as a digital single in September 2022. Described by Paste as “a faithful cover of an untouchable track… impressive” and accompanied by a moving performance video rendered in stark black and white, Beck’s version of “Old Man” went on to be nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Last month, ahead of their upcoming co-headlining tour, Beck and Phoenix linked up on a new single, “Odyssey,” featuring vocals from Beck and Phoenix’s Thomas Mars.
“Somewhere / We’ll fall into the ocean / I’ll be there / On an odyssey in the sun,” Beck and Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars sing on the bright track’s chorus. It’s perfect for summer and stays true to both acts’ styles. The song is written, produced, and performed by Beck and Phoenix, with mixing by Serban Ghenea.
Pre-order “Thinking About You/Old Man.”