Willis Earl Beal will release his debut album Acousmatic Sorcery on April 30 via Hot Charity / XL Recordings / Rhythmethod.

The album’s 11 songs are taken from a series of recordings Beal made while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After living in the Chicagoland area for his entire life, Beal felt compelled to be near the desert an idea he had long romanticisced.

He arrived in Albuquerque without a plan, a place to live, or enough money to live off. He lived on the streets while trying to land a job and began singing to help him cope while sleeping rough. He spent days drawing and printing up his flyers, distributing them all over his new city. Eventually Beal found work as the night porter at a motel.

It was during the late-night shifts that the 27-year-old musician from the south side of Chicago found his voice and taught himself to make music. The recordings are a result of what one creative mind can do with a few found instruments and objects such as a cassette-based karaoke machine and a $20 microphone. Somehow Beal managed to create warm, visceral and moving music seemingly out of nothing, just a little bit of imagination – it’s practically magic done without any fancy gadgetry, hence the name Acousmatic Sorcery.

“Willis Earl Beal is headed for hugeness, of that there’s no doubt.” – FACT

ST.VINCENT

Strange Mercy NZ Dates

SUN 18 MARCH· KINGS ARMS Auckland

MON 19 MARCH· SAN FRANCISCO BATH HOUSE Wellington

Boys & Girls, the full-length debut album from Alabama Shakes, will be released on 9 April 2012via Rough Trade / Rhythmehod.

Comprising vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, drummer Steve Johnson and bassist Zac Cockrell, Alabama Shakes began performing together in high school. Boys & Girls was recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, USA. Produced and mixed by the band, the album is a vibrant fusion of swampy, dirty south-rock, blues and soul delivered with punk rock fervour.

Alabama Shakes’ upcoming 2012 NME Awards debut UK shows have all sold out. Jack White’s Third Man Records has selected Alabama Shakes to kick off its series of live 45 releases with a two-song 7” due out in late January. Alabama Shakes will also make its television debut on in the USA on Conan on Tuesday 7 February 2012.

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