William Eggleston is best known as a photographer — his iconic work capturing the American south has been collected in many books, including William Eggleston’s Guide (1976) and The Democratic Forest (1989), and his photos have also been used for a few album covers as well, including Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American, Big Star’s Radio City, and Spoon’s Transference. But he also makes music, having released Musik in 2017, and he’s now set to release new album 512 on November 3 via Secretly Canadian.
The album was made in one day in 2018 in Eggleston’s hometown of Memphis, working with producer Tom Lunt and featuring his interpretations of standards “Over the Rainbow,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Ol’ Man River” and “Onward Christian Solidiers,” along with two originals, “Improvisation” and ” That’s Some Robert Burns.” 512 features Sam Amidon and Leo Abrahams, as well as contributions from Brian Eno, Matana Roberts, Mikele Montolli, and Seb Rochford. “I’ve never heard anything like it,” Eggleston says. “It’s very modern.”
You can listen to the spare “Improvisation,” which features Brian Eno, below.
512
1. Improvisation
2. Ol’ Man River
3. Smoke Gets in Your EYes
4. Over the Rainbow
5. That’s Some Robert Burns
6. Onward Christian Soldiers