Beck prepares a Valentine’s Day release with a curated eight-track mini-album drawing together soundtrack highlights, rare covers and previously unreleased recordings.
by Paul Cashmere
Beck has announced a special Valentine’s Day release with the eight-song mini-album Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime, a carefully assembled collection that highlights his long-standing relationship with reinterpretation, soundtrack work and emotionally resonant material. The release arrives as a digital set ahead of a physical edition on opaque red vinyl, due on 13 February 2026.
The mini-album takes its title from Beck’s version of Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime, the song originally recorded by The Korgis in 1980. Beck’s rendition first appeared on the soundtrack to Michel Gondry’s 2004 film The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and has since become one of his most widely recognised recordings outside his studio albums. Its inclusion here establishes the reflective, romantic tone that runs through the project.
From there, the collection unfolds as a sequence of covers and soundtrack selections that centre on love, longing and devotion. Beck’s interpretation of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love appears alongside his version of The Flamingos’ I Only Have Eyes For You, a doo-wop standard he recorded for multimedia artist Doug Aitken’s Song 1 installation. That recording receives its first physical release as part of this set.
The album also includes tributes to influential songwriters and artists. Beck covers John Lennon’s Love, a recording previously released in limited form, and Caetano Veloso’s Michelangelo Antonioni, originally recorded for the 2012 compilation A Tribute To Caetano Veloso. Both tracks underscore Beck’s long-standing engagement with songwriting traditions beyond genre boundaries, a thread that has run through his career since the early 1990s.
The only Beck original on Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime is Ramona, taken from the soundtrack to Edgar Wright’s 2010 film Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. While it was created for a fictional band within the film’s narrative, the song has endured as a distinctive entry in Beck’s catalogue, blending melodic warmth with a classic pop sensibility.
Closing the mini-album are two previously unreleased solo acoustic recordings. Beck revisits Hank Williams’ Your Cheatin’ Heart and Daniel Johnston’s True Love Will Find You In The End, offering stripped-back interpretations that emphasise intimacy and vulnerability. Their inclusion gives the collection a sense of closure, ending on a quietly reflective note that suits the Valentine’s Day framing.
The release marks Beck’s first compilation-style project since 2000’s Stray Cat Blues, a B-sides collection, and arrives without a CD edition at this stage. The vinyl pressing, issued on opaque red wax, reinforces the album’s positioning as a seasonal and collectible release rather than a conventional catalogue entry.
Beck’s most recent studio album was Hyperspace in 2019, followed by Hyperspace: A.I. Exploration in 2020, a visual reimagining that incorporated artificial intelligence and imagery linked to a NASA mission. In recent years, Beck has remained active through collaborations, soundtrack work and select live performances, including a limited orchestral tour in 2025 featuring longtime band members Jason Falkner, Roger Manning
and Joey Waronker. No tour dates have been announced for 2026.
With Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime, Beck draws together material recorded across different eras and contexts, presenting it as a cohesive statement centred on romantic songcraft. The result functions as both a thematic mixtape and a snapshot of his enduring interest in reinterpretation, tradition and emotional clarity.
Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime Tracklisting:
Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime
Can’t Help Falling In Love
I Only Have Eyes For You
Ramona
Michelangelo Antonioni
Your Cheatin’ Heart
Love
True Love Will Find You In The End
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