![News Added Aug 14, 2016 John Paul White's voice was meant to be heard on its own. At the start of his career, he was poised to be a breakout solo singer until Capitol Records dropped him before the release of his debut album. That set him on a path to writing songs for other […]](https://hasitleaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cover600x600-7-320x320.jpeg "John Paul White : Beulah")
John Paul White's voice was meant to be heard on its own. At the start of his career, he was poised to be a breakout solo singer until Capitol Records dropped him before the release of his debut album. That set him on a path to writing songs for other people and then forming The Civil Wars with Joy Williams — a duo whose strength lay in its harmonies. Now, years later, White delivers on the long-delayed promise of a solo career in Beulah, a wise, entrancing and meticulous bit of Southern folk.
White has always sung like a melody can be dangerous. On a foundation of tension and surrender, the Civil Wars created magnetic songs about dark magnetism. When the duo broke up in 2013, White returned home to Muscle Shoals, Ala. to be with his family and focus on his Single Lock Records label. With Beulah, White emerges as if drawn by song from a quiet life, drawn with that romantic regret.
For White, this is a return to self. If The Civil Wars invited listeners to confuse their characters with the singers, he is now making clear where his songs come from. It's bracing to hear the return of a voice many have missed in a form few have heard.
