BECK is one of those artists who has a style that is not easy to pinpoint. His back catalogue ranges from folksy, to ambient, right through to hip hop via west coast rock.

Modern Guilt (his eighth studio album), sees Beck team up with the super-producer Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz fame).

The result proves to be an interesting combination of dance beats, psychedelic sounds and fuzz guitars, harking back to the days of Odelay (1996).

The song Orphans opens the album, with a sparse beat that slowly builds up with the introduction of a full band, including some odd synthesizer sounds and a distinctive acoustic guitar.

The song also features some beautiful harmonies that wouldn't sound out of place on a Beach Boys album.

Title track Modern Guilt is a bluesy number featuring an intriguing chord change on the piano, leading the listener to believe that the song will build up to a crescendo only to be stripped back down to its basics again.

A very neat production trick that keeps the attention.

Walls is possibly the only moment of the album which makes it obvious that this is the production work of Danger Mouse, whilst still managing to sound like Beck.

Soul of a Man takes things towards a darker direction, featuring a Led Zeppelin-esque guitar riff with Beck's vocals going from monotone blues to a melodic chorus in which he sings "what makes a soul, a soul of a man?".

The album finishes with Volcano, an introspective slow burner in which Beck states "I've been drinking all these tears so long, all I've got left is the taste of salt in my mouth", proving that Beck still has that lyrical quality that made Sea Change (2002) such a delicate and an emotional album.

If there is one criticism of the album, it is length.

There are 10 songs in total and only two of them pass the four-minute mark, meaning its all finished in half an hour - leaving you wanting to hear more.

Having said that, this is still an accomplished piece of work and is well worth purchasing if you are a fan of Beck.

4 stars out of 5