Beverly Glenn-Copeland announces first new album in 20 years, ‘The Ones Ahead’, shares ‘Africa Calling’: Listen
The album will mark a new chapter for the pioneering artist
Beverly Glenn-Copeland has announced a new album, ‘The Ones Ahead’, out on 28th July, via Transgressive. Listen to the first single below.
The release will be Glenn-Copeland’s first studio LP in almost 20 years, and the first since his career renaissance, which was triggered by the rediscovery of his 1986 album, ‘Keyboard Fantasies’.
To accompany the announcement of the album, Glenn-Copeland has shared lead track, ‘Africa Calling’, an percussive, polyrhythmic track that honours his West African heritage.
Commenting on the track, Glenn-Copeland said: “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.”
Originally self-released on Atlast Records as a cassette in 1986, ‘Keyboard Fantasies’ was known only amongst a select group of audiophiles before gaining widespread popularity in 2015 after a Japanese record collector began selling copies. Two months later, the artist had received offers from ten different record labels hoping to re-release ‘Keyboard Fantasies’ on vinyl. The album was eventually remastered and reissued in February 2017 by Invisible City Editions, a Toronto-based reissue label, to “almost instantaneous” appreciation.
In 2021, he released the remix album ‘Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined’, which featured reworked versions of the album's songs from artists such as Arca, Blood Orange, Julia Holter, and Kelsey Lu. More recently, having been blown away after seeing him perform live in Stockholm, The XX’s Romy sampled Glenn-Copeland on her new single ‘Enjoy Your Life’.
Glenn-Copeland’s new album ‘The Ones Ahead’ is available to preorder here. Listen to the first single below.
