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Willis Earl Beal Teases Mysterious New Album With Eerie ‘Everything Unwinds’

willis earl beal, nobody knows, everything unwinds

Chicago outsider Willis Earl Beal will release his sophomore album, Nobody knows., on September 10 through XL Recordings imprint Hot Charity. Keeping with the bluesman’s air of mystery, the record label’s official announcement claims that the 13-track collection was recorded “everywhere and nowhere” and produced by Beal “under the guise of ‘Nobody.'” 

“I want to be a shadow, not the man casting it,” Beal says in a statement. “That’s who ‘Nobody’ is.” 

According to the press release, last year’s Essential Acousmatic Sorcery served as a “raw, no-fi introduction to Beal’s life as a songwriter… but did little to display the power and natural beauty of the voice he used onstage.” The forthcoming Nobody knows. looks to correct that by delivering “on the promise of his live show, combining soul baring vocals with sounds and arrangements rooted in everything from orchestral blues to ambient r&b, and gentle lullabies to pure cacophony.”  

Preview Beal’s latest effort with the haunting “Everything unwinds.,” streaming above. Below there’s the album’s track listing (which confirms a guest appearance from Cat Power’s Chan Marshall) and Beal’s European tour dates. Pre-orders of Nobody knows. are currently available here.

Nobody knows. track list: 

1. “Wavering Lines”
2. “Coming Through” (feat. 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” 

Willis Earl Beal 2013 tour dates: 

September 20 – Brussels, Belgium @ AB Club
September 21 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ Incubate Festival
September 23 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ MC Theater
September 25 – Berlin, Germany @ Privatclub
September 26 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
September 27 – Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival
September 29 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Papiersaal
October 3 – London, U.K. @ St.Giles-in-the-Fields
October 4 – Manchester, U.K. @ Sacred Trinity
October 5 – Bristol, U.K. @ Louisiana
October 7 – Paris, France @ Point FMR