Acousmatic SorceryHot Charity ****

It's good to see XL spending the Adele millions on mavericks such as this guy via its new Hot Charity imprint. Hailing from Chicago, Willis Earl Beal comes with an enigmatic backstory – including hobo travels in New Mexico and an unexpected run-in with The X Factor – and one hell of a voice. It's that fantastic rumble and growl that dominates this scrapbook of vintage, authentic, oddball folk, blues, soul and hip-hop. If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd come across an undocumented Alan Lomax field recording, which may be partly the point. Tracks such as Cosmic Queries and Take Me Away are beat-poetry slam-dunks, a grand coalition of Beal's Tom Waits-like holler and a hypnotic way with found rhythms. Yet Beal is capable of working other furrows: Evening's Kiss and Monotony display great leftfield pop sensibilities. One feels Beal will become something of a fixture. willisearlbeal.com

Download tracks: Evening's Kiss, Cosmic Queries, Monotony