Chicago native Willis Earl Beal’s debut album Acousmatic Sorcery was recorded while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico – a place he escaped to with very little money and no real plan. Now signed to XL Recording’s newest imprint Hot Charity, his LP is due for release on March 19th.
His debut single ‘Evening’s Kiss’ is a tale of lost dreams and fantasy love, centred around a waitress who worked at a local diner. The quietly powerful ballad borrows inspiration from a confection of influences, while his voice alludes to affiliations with Folk, Indie, Blues & Soul. A combination that makes this 27-year old a very interesting specimen to explore.
With virtually no online presence (no facebook, no myspace) information on this nomadic artist is scarce – with the exception of this fascinating feature article in the Chicago Reader – which also explains the intriguing story behind the cover art / flyer up top.
[...] signee to the wonderful XL records ( via HotCharity) is Willis Earl Beal. Featured on Pinboard a couple of weeks back he now offers an acapella version of ‘Same Old Tears’. His new longplayer drops on [...]
[...] Hot Charity / XL Recordings signed Willis Earl Beal in early January when we featured his single ‘Evening Kiss’ – the general consensus was great. ‘Take Me Away’ will launch a new chain of [...]
[...] as mysteriously absent now, Willis Earl Beal is gearing up for live dates alongside SBTRKT and Wu Lyf this spring and some UK gigs [...]