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In emulating great vocalists he has admired, from Jeff Buckley to Judy Garland, the guitarist conjures a serene lyricism. Female vocalists drawn from the worlds of opera (Olivia Safe), swing (Imelda May) and soul (Joss Stone) provide window-dressing, and the symphony orchestra accompaniment is gratuitous.
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Beck has chosen to forgo his signature frenzied fretboard blitzkriegs and weave long, laconic phrases, his guitar rich, thick, and warm, sounding familiar yet different: he's never sustained this level of grace for a full record, and his soulful playing cuts through the clean sheen of the production, always commanding attention even when he's not demanding it.
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Though the individual songs are quite different stylistically, it's an incredibly cohesive album, with the tracks flowing together and melding effortlessly into a beautiful expression of Jeff Beck's exploratory impulse.