From Beck, a dispassionate display at MGM Music Hall at Fenway

Before Beck’s latest album, “Ride Lonesome,” came out in September, it had been seven years since the last one. That’s the longest stretch between releases for the Southern California songwriter. Naturally, then, at a tour stop Saturday at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Beck kept the focus on his new material. “Ride Lonesome” is full of somber campfire songs, and there was a moment during the show when Beck and his band sat around in a semicircle, as if they were huddling over an actual fire pit. The band, featuring longtime Beck sidekicks Jason Falkner on guitar and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. on keyboards, was exquisite. Almost too perfect, truth be told. There was a lot of reconfiguring happening onstage throughout the night, with technicians and stagehands scampering around between songs. At one point Beck noted that his favorite part of touring is the backstage warmup, when the band clusters in some small space in the bowels of the venue. To demonstrate, they gathered inside a V-shaped scrim, like they were standing between the pages of an open book. Get Starting PointA guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.