Beck recently spoke with Rolling Stone about his work on his new album:

The sound, Beck says, was inspired by five years of heavy touring. He played big summer festivals to young audiences, and he soaked up the energy of acts like the Strokes, with whom he toured last year. “It’s a summer night, people have their hands up,” he says. “It’s a communal, celebratory thing. I wanted to take that into the studio, a kind of energy or joy. The thing that wakes you up a little bit.”