One of the most common misunderstandings of dubstep producer BURIAL might be the one of anonymity. He isn’t actually anonymous at all. His name his William Bevan, he’s most likely believed to live in London and … well, he makes music. And he choose to make music, not anything else. Ever since is breakthrough with the 2007 longplayer Untrue he’s not much into interview, promo shoots, videos or any PR campaign. Once or twice a year he releases an EP via label Hyperdub – and the music world goes crazy. And every now and then people start asking the infamous question: Who the hell is BURIAL? NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION asks: Does it even matter?
As the British producer released his latest EP Rival Dealer these days the phenomenon is once again quite present in the blogosphere. His latest effort provides three diversified tracks that represent the constant progress BURIAL is making with his sound. And it even got a message like he told the BBC lately in a short statement: “I wanted the tunes to be anti-bullying tunes that could maybe help someone to believe in themselves, to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to know that someone out there cares and is looking out for them.”
Labelling BURIAL‘s music as ‘just’ dubstep doesn’t do it justice anymore. Over the course of the past years it evolved into a conglomerate of all different kinds of electronic influences. The title track of Rival Dancer, for example, is an epic piece of underground dubstep that comes with a surprisingly spheric and almost movie score-like outro. Hiders comes with surprising 80s influences while Come Down To Us almost sounds like his sacral interpretation of dreampop. His latest EP extends the boundaries of his music into new directions. Only he knows what comes next. It’s the fact of not knowing it that makes it so fascinating.
And still it might not even be sure if William Bevan marks the real name of the producer. After all it could’ve been just another alias. According to the man himself a few years ago, only a handful of people know that he actually produces music. And forget the speculations about him being Kieran Hebden aka FOUR TET, Thom Yorke or any other known famous musician. There’s no benefit in this for each and everyone. Especially Hebden has no need for an alibi since BURIAL‘s musical concept isn’t that far away from FOUR TET.
It’s the level of refusal from BURIAL‘s side that keeps it interesting. An attitude like his shouldn’t be a problem. It’s the assumption of our modern society that finds it hard to believe. How can such a talented guy hide himself from the world? Why doesn’t he promote his music more? Why isn’t he on Facebook or Twitter? Why doesn’t he perform live and actually making a bit of money out of it? The majority assumes that this has to be the right way. But who are we to judge this? Maybe the man who is BURIAL is happy with what he got. Fame doesn’t mean anything to him, he once stated that he prefers the darkness instead. Maybe he got a more fulfilling job, probably something social. Or any other art form. And music is just one outlet of his idea. With his consequent refusal BURIAL gives his music and his persona room for interpretation. And it makes him way more fascinating than most of today’s pop stars.
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