“Wow” is whimsy, wacky, wild and wonderful.
Harkening back to his older sound, Beck’s new song is filled with quirky sounds and playful lyrics, which is a sharp departure from the mellow and wistful Morning Phase. The track opens with a siren-like woodwind loop, which builds with the addition of some heavy bass, trap influenced snare rolls, and Beck’s deeply voiced “Giddy up, giddy up.” Beck then start’s slightly melodically drunk rapping senseless, stream of consciousness lyrics like “With my pulse on the animal jewels, of the rules that you choose to use to get loose.”
The production is so rich and filled with diverse and unexpected sounds such as jungle-themed bird calls and growls, childish backing vocals, and super warped synths. It’s kind of like Grouplove’s energetic accessibility meets Animal Collective’s style of utterly weird and complex instrumentation. The song is also very dynamic, beginning with a hip-hop influenced feel, then acquiring a summer house vibe in the chorus, and gaining a moment of clarity in the piano-riff driven bridge.
But even though it seems to have no rhyme or reason, the song is cohesive in its randomness and almost annoying catchy. It’s infectious, lighthearted swagger makes dancing impossible to resist. “Wow” intentionally makes absolutely no sense, but that’s what makes it so much fun.
Photo by: Vevo
