The 52-year-old’s desire to forge his own path – to swing from garage rock to funk or hip hop, to crank up on psychedelia or fall back into his folk and country roots – has meant fans and critics rarely know what’s coming next.

Beck has released 13 studio albums since 1993 debut Golden Feelings, and collaborated with a stunning array of artists, including Philip Glass, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Childish Gambino, Jenny Lewis, Lady Gaga and Gorillaz.

Artists I admire put out records that have people scratching their head at the time ...

Beck

His most recent Grammy nomination came this year, somewhat to Beck’s surprise, for a cover of Neil Young’s 1972 song Old Man.

His version of Young’s classic was used to promote a National Football League game last year, between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game featured veteran Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, and his younger rival Patrick Mahomes, the latter going on to Super Bowl glory with Kansas City last month.

“That was such an interesting project,” Beck said. “I recorded the song in one day, we filmed a live performance a few days later, it was released a week after that, and two weeks later it was nominated for a Grammy.”

“Typically, when you record something it doesn’t come out for 12 months, or two years sometimes, so that was a wild trajectory for that song. It was sort of funny, and unusual.”

However, it was Beck’s own connection with Young that most appealed to him about the project.

“Neil was very, very generous and kind to me when I was starting out. He was very encouraging ... and it’s really important for young artists to be around people of his stature, it’s really a gift.

“Not just to see how they perform music, but how they conduct themselves, how they are as people and with their family, and the people they work with ... these are important lessons.”

More recently, his new song Thinking About You harks back to the way he first made music. After touring plans were scuttled in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beck found himself at home with his guitar.

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“I’d been touring non-stop for about six years and was gearing up for another world tour in 2020, so putting the brakes on that train was pretty difficult, psychologically,” he said.

“Before you’ve got a record deal or have an audience, you’re making things up for your own amusement, or whatever reason you pick up a guitar and write a song.

“Thinking About You came about like that ... just the way when I was 20, I’d pick up a guitar and start strumming and write Pay No Mind or Nitemare Hippy Girl.”

Beck’s upcoming shows in Melbourne, Sydney and at Bluesfest in Byron Bay will be “a reprise of the Seachange tour I did by myself many years ago”, he says.

“I’m going to make each show unique, play some songs I don’t play that often and [make it] a much more intimate thing. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been a long time.”

Beck plays at St Kilda’s Palais Theatre (with support from Gena Rose Bruce) on April 3; and Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC Sydney (with support from Robert Forster) on April 6. For tickets and tour information, go to frontiertouring.com

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