Burial (musician)

William Emmanuel Bevan, known by his recording alias Burial, is a British electronic musician from South London. Initially remaining anonymous, Burial became the first artist signed to Kode9's electronic label Hyperdub in 2005. He won acclaim the following year for his self-titled debut album, an influential release in the UK's dubstep scene which showcased a dark, emotive take on UK rave music styles such as UK garage and 2-step; it was named the album of the year by ''The Wire''. Burial's second album, '' Untrue'', was released to further critical acclaim in 2007.

In 2008, Bevan's identity was revealed by ''The Independent'' and confirmed by Hyperdub. In the following years, he went on to collaborate with Four Tet, Massive Attack, Thom Yorke and Zomby in addition to releasing a series of long-form EPs such as '' Kindred'' (2012), ''Truant / Rough Sleeper'' (2012), and ''Rival Dealer'' (2013); most of these releases were later compiled on the 2019 compilation ''Tunes 2011–2019''. He has remained reclusive, giving few interviews and avoiding public appearances. AllMusic described him as "one of the most acclaimed, influential, and enigmatic electronic musicians of the early 21st century."

Biography

Early career: self-titled debut and ''Untrue''

Bevan grew up a fan of jungle and garage, having been introduced to the UK rave scene by his older brothers. He mentioned American garage producer Todd Edwards and the UK's 2-step subgenre as favorites. In an interview with ''The Wire'', he explained:

I was brought up on old jungle tunes and garage tunes that had lots of vocals in but me and my brothers loved intense, darker tunes too, I found something I could believe in... but sometimes I used to listen to the ones with vocals on my own and it was almost a secret thing ..My brother might bring back these records that seemed really adult to me and I couldn’t believe I had 'em. It was like when you first saw ''Terminator'' or '' Alien'' when you're only little. I'd get a rush from it, I was hearing this other world...

Bevan began sending Steve Goodman (Kode9) letters and CD-Rs of his home-made music around 2002, having been a fan of the music featured on Goodman's Hyperdub website. In 2005, the label released the ''South London Boroughs'' EP, which collected tracks recorded by Burial for several years prior. Burial's self-titled 2006 debut album was the first full-length release on Hyperdub.

Despite early acclaim, Burial initially remained anonymous, and said in an early interview that "only five people know I make tunes". In February 2008, ''The Independent'' speculatedNationwide Mercury Music Prize nominee Burial’s identity revealed
NME. Accessed 11 February 2017 that Burial was Bevan, an alumnus of South London's Elliott School. The school's alumni also include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), with whom Bevan has collaborated. On 22 July 2008, it was announced Burial was a nominee for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for his second album, '' Untrue''.