Chicago-based singer/songwriter Willis Earl Beal has announced the release of his second studio album, entitled Nobody knows. on September 10 through XL Recordings/Hot Charity. The former Found magazine cover sensation is well-known for his odd antics and abnormal behavior—before he gained acclaim as a musician he spent some time homeless in Chicago. A prolific visual artist, poet, and musician, Beal’s debut Acousmatic Sorcery received a good deal of attention in 2012 due to its dissonant poetics and unusual stylings. Hear “Everything unwinds.” a track from the forthcoming album below.
This record plans on the same elements of outsider art and feelings of societal fringe that his debut established. Beal says of the album: “I want to be a shadow, not the man casting it. That’s who ‘Nobody’ is.” The European tour that Willis has planned for the record will be called the Church of Nobody, and Beal will perform with a live band led by Jahphet Landis who has worked with Santigold, TV on the Radio and Björk—an American tour will begin in November. Check out the full tracklist—which features Chan Marshall a.k.a Cat Power on a track—and European tour dates below. Album pre-order is available through XL here.
Nobody knows. tracklist:
1. Wavering Lines
2. Coming Through (featuring Chan Marshall)
3. Everything unwinds.
4. Burning Bridges
5. Disintegrating
6. Too Dry Too Cry
7. What’s the deal?
8. Ain’t Got No Love
9. White Noise
10. Hole In The Roof
11. Blue Escape
12. Nobody knows.
13. The Flow
The Church of Nobody tour dates:
9/20 Brussels, Belgium – AB Club
9/21 Tilburg, Holland – Incubate Festival
9/23 Amsterdam, Holland – MC Theater
9/25 Berlin, Germany – Privatclub
9/26 Denmark, Copenhagen – Vega
9/27 Hamburg, Germany – Reeperbahn Festival
9/29 Zurich, Switzerland – Papiersaal
10/3 London, UK – St.Giles-in-the-Fields
10/4 Manchester, UK – Sacred Trinity
10/5 Bristol, UK – Louisiana
10/7 Paris, France – Point FMR
