Willis Earl Beal spoke last month about why he decided to leave his old label, XL, and release his new album entirely by himself. That album, Experiments In Time, sounded more and more intriguing as singles like “Traveling Eyes” and “Until We Die” emerged. Hearing it now in full, the album sounds like something Beal would not have been able to explore while working with a major label. It plays like blown-out, lo-fi, ambient versions of blues and soul music. There’s a song on the album called “Monotony,” which almost reads like a prediction of how some people might react to this thing, but Experiments In Time feels like a record that will benefit from close and repeated listens. Stream it via Pitchfork now.

Experiments In Time is out 8/8.