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In a year that has brought us comeback albums from David Bowie, to excellent albums from the indie greats like Foals and Arctic Monkeys; it would be easy to stay within your comfort zone when it came to music in 2013. Willis Earl Beal’s sophomore record, Nobody Knows., refuses to let this happen. Channelling elements of 60s soul, interspersed with haunting blues, obscurity in music has never sounded so attractive.
Beal has moved on since the homemade-esque recordings of Acousmatic Sorcery, his first album released by XL. Tracks such as ‘Everything Unwinds’ seem reminiscent of Beal’s life on the Chicago streets, taking the subject of homelessness and putting it in people’s faces: “Now I’m dancing in the alley, with rust in my soul/ Facing all the dumpsters, with no particular goal”. But it’s this use of Beal’s hypnotic voice to make others understand that adds to the hazy, mystical aura of this album and makes it so exceptional.
‘White Noise’ uses static noise to give an ethereal effect to the track, which when doubled with Beal’s strong vocal creates a sinister mix. Whereas ‘Hole in the Roof’ bursts out, with heavy southern beats to alleviate the seriousness of other songs. ‘Blue Escape’ heralds similarities to ‘Evening’s Kiss’ from Acousmatic Sorcery, and adds beautiful strings into Beal’s mainly acoustic offering.
From the opening verse of acapella ‘Wavering Lines’, Nobody Knows. delivers one of the most remarkable albums to be released this year. Willis Earl Beal has created an unprecedented record, from ‘Wavering Lines’ to closer ‘The Flow’, making Beal’s homeless history, to an audition on the X Factor, to an XL recording artist seem even more incredible.
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