Beverly Glenn-Copeland will release new album ‘The Ones Ahead’ on July 28th.
The composer released his now-classic album ‘Keyboard Fantasies’ in the mid 80s, with only a tiny batch of cassettes ever reaching record racks. Remarkably, it became a potent cult document, informing generations of bedroom synth auteurs.
Coaxed out of semi-retirement for a stunning series of international shows, this energy pushed Beverly Glenn-Copeland back into the studio. New album ‘The Ones Ahead’ is his first LP for 20 years, and the first since his extraordinary late career upsurge.
Constructed alongside producer John Herbermann and Indigo Rising, the group who accompanied him on those feted live shows, sessions took place in a remote studio in Nova Scotia in late 2021, before being finished last year.
Out on July 28th, the album is led by new song ‘Africa Calling’ a track that honours Glenn-Copeland’s West African heritage. A blur of up-tempo poly-rhythms, you can check out ‘Africa Calling’ now.
Of the song itself, Beverly Glenn-Copeland comments…
“In the ‘80s I had the honour of performing with an incredible artist named Dido, a master of the drums indigenous to West Africa. The beauty of this drumming tradition is explored in ‘Africa Calling’. Over the years, in many conversations, I have come to understand that I share an undefinable, unnamed feeling – a calling – with many other members of the African diaspora, a bone-deep need to explore and express our heritage.”
“Alongside the grief, there is a longing to know our roots, hidden from us as family lines were torn apart in the terrible days of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In a world still caught in the ties of colonialism, I know I am not alone in needing to heed the call of this generations-old longing.”
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Brianna Blank
