Earlier this year, Beck released a sequel (in spirit, if not title) to 2002’s gorgeous break-up album, Sea Change. Morning Phase has the same sad acoustic ambiance of its predecessor, but it is concerned more with mortality and self-fulfillment than heartbreak.

I’m tempted to call it the better album, in part because of its more universal nature, even though I count Sea Change among my favorite records. If Morning Phase loses points in that competition, its because it’s less of a surprise for coming second.

The record does have a few songs that feel like walking in place — short instrumentals and tracks that hit the same note a few too many times — but those tracks serve to flesh out the overall message of the album.

And the highs, such as today’s SOTD and several others, are simply sublime. Blending a little Pink Floyd, a little Simon & Garfunkel and a whole lot of Beck Hansen, they’re masterpieces of melancholy.