The Fat Angel Sings

A vividly painted instrumental album, there is a beauty and tranquility that surrounds ‘goes west’, a sense of magic in the way that it captures both the heart, and the imagination, in equal amounts – close your eyes and you are transported immediately deep into rural america for a gripping, captivating musical journey full of personality, reminiscent of gustavo santaolallo’s gorgeous ‘brokeback mountain’ score.

The music of William Tyler, the south is not apart from america; the south is america condensed. ‘goes west’ marks a narrowing of focus, a way to point himself directly towards the rich and bittersweet emotional centre of his music without being distracted by side trips. surprisingly for one of Nashville’s finest electric guitarists, he only plays acoustic guitar throughout, allowing his band the space and freedom with which to explore new worlds of sound and movement. “melodies that convey messages on emotive and spiritual levels.” – popmatters, “invigoratingly sunny” – mojo, “constantly twisting and turning…rewards repeat listens”

From the album Goes West, out January 25, 2019 on Merge Records.

Indie-folk guitarist William Tyler has released the first single from his forthcoming LP “Fail Safe.” from “Goes West” is Tyler’s first new album since 2016’s Modern Country and is scheduled for release on January. 2th5, 2019. The intricately woven, guitar-based instrumental feels like a journey, with his acoustic as star of the show. The strings layer, growing through the track’s end, giving it a sense of restlessness and excitement—of choosing not to stay stagnant but also embracing the change. Whatever downsides moving cross-country to sunny California may have, the impact on Tyler’s music certainly isn’t one. In a statement about the album, M.C. Taylor (of Hiss Golden Messenger) described the “emotional clarity” of Tyler’s forthcoming album. “It offered up a model for what I wanted my head to feel like,” said Taylor. “Goes West marks a sort of narrowing of focus for William’s music; it sounds as though he found a way to point himself directly towards the rich and bittersweet emotional center of his music without being distracted by side trips.

From the album Goes West, out January 25th, 2019 on Merge Records

William Tyler will follow his sweeping 2016 album Modern Country with a new record entitled Goes West, the great Nashville-bred guitarist he’s released a new track called “Fail Safe,” a brief but luminous instrumental built on Tyler’s own graceful playing and a thwacking polyrhythmic backbeat.

A prodigiously skilled player with roots in folk, country, and rock’n’roll, Tyler got his start with stints in Lambchop and Silver Jews in the late ’90s before releasing a string of increasingly acclaimed solo albums beginning with 2010’s Behold the Spirit.That record found him toying with the borders of the so-called “American primitive” tradition, the style named and popularized by John Fahey in the 1960s, featuring elaborate compositions based on folk forms for solo fingerpicked steel-string acoustic guitar. (Tyler’s twists on the genre’s conventions included occasional trombone accompaniment and snippets of nocturnal field recordings.) He’s expanded his sound gradually since then, often playing electric guitar and with a full backing ensemble, culminating so far with Modern Country, an album that sounded as much like the widescreen productions of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno as it did like down-home folk.

This trajectory continues with “Fail Safe,” a breezy melodic tune whose arrangement reveals new layers of resonance with each listen. According to a press release, Tyler is back to playing acoustic guitar only for this album, though he is accompanied by two great electric players in Meg Duffy and jazz legend Bill Frisell. Goes West will be released via Merge January 25th.

From the album Goes West, out January 25, 2019 on Merge Records.