Yes, that William Eggleston. The famed photographer is now a musician. Well, 512 is actually his second album, but it feels like a fresh start. The Secretly Canadian release reveals an artist capable of making a stark statement in sonic terms, after having done so visually earlier.
A guest appearance on the bells by Brian Eno gets things going ("Improvisation"), though it's the nearly-haunted runs at standards that give this record heart and soul. A dash of fiddle from Sam Amidon on "Ol' Man River" nods in the direction of Americana even as William Eggleston's plaintive piano-runs place this in its own space and time, while an epic "Onward Christian Solders" benefits from help from Mikele Montolli on bass and Seb Rochford on drums.
All that being said, 512 is very much William Eggleston's album. It's his piano playing that plucks at the heart, and keeps the brain stirring. Choices are made, directions abandoned, and pauses celebrated as Eggleston stakes out a line or melody on the keys. The selections say so much in the quieter moments, when the tunes are nearly jettisoned and new paths gently suggested. In a sense, this has the flavor of jazz about it in that regard, though Eggleston's austere approach places this closer to modern classical in performance and presentation.
512 by William Eggleston is out now via Secretly Canadian.
[Photo: Peter Townsend]