Beck and Phoenix will mark the kick-off of their hotly anticipated Summer Odyssey tour with the physical release of their collaborative sun-splashed banger, “Odyssey.”
On August 1, the same day they co-headline Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, the Beck and Phoenix collaborative single hailed by UPROXX as “an empowered, shimmering anthem” and by FLOOD as “a joyful slice of hedonistic disco-pop” will be released as a limited edition yellow vinyl 7-inch single featuring the newly digitally released “Odyssey (Instrumental)” on its B-side.
Three minutes and 47 seconds of sheer audio bliss, “Odyssey” is written, produced and performed by Beck and Phoenix, and mixed by Serban Ghenea. Beck and Thomas Mars nimbly trade lead vocals on the song’s verses, with the full cast joining to create the irresistible earworms of its choruses and each “Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” singalong refrain. The result is two unmistakable sonic signatures combining to create something beyond the sum of its parts.
The “Odyssey”/“Odyssey (Instrumental)” 7” will be available from the Beck, Phoenix, and Capitol Records online stores, select retailers, and of course at venues throughout the Summer Odyssey tour.
The headliners will be joined on tour by a string of indie favorites, including Japanese Breakfast, Weyes Blood, and Jenny Lewis.
The tour is expected to be a big production, but recently Beck played a string of Australian dates with a more stripped-back approach. Back in March, he told Australia’s Double J, “Since the pandemic, I’ve been doing a lot of acoustic things, just because it’s easy to do without a band,” he says. “It’s kind of going back to my early days when I was just playing in bars and coffee shops. Before my first album, I was largely just playing by myself with acoustic guitar, maybe a couple of other gadgets.”
Phoenix recently released their first album since 2017, Alpha Zulu, which featured a collaboration with rising indie star Clairo. “After Midnight” marked the band’s second ever collab, making “Odyssey” the third.
Buy or stream the “Odyssey”/“Odyssey (Instrumental)” 7.”