September 2026 Music Round-Up

Hello autumn! Let's celebrate the new season with a new monthly round-up of quick first impression opinions, collection updates, etc! New Music Immediate ImpressionsBeck - Ride Lonesome Sea Change was wonderful - it found Beck subverting all the expectations that came with his musical trickster persona by creating an album that was earnestly vulnerable and emotional, while also having a sense of class to its lush production. But a part of Beck's charm is that he's an entirely different artist on each album, and his attempts at recreating Sea Change just aren't working for me: first with Morning Phase, now with Ride Lonesome. All the right aesthetic choices are there - the acoustic arrangements, the orchestral decorations, the warm production - but it sounds like Beck playing cosplay of himself as he tries to tap into already-tread territory without anything to say in that realm. Ride Lonesome is a very pretty album and pleasant to listen to, you can't fault it for that, but it's all…