Folksinger Willi Carlisle holds tight the conviction that love is bigger than hate, and no-one is
expendable. Carlisle’s music has always been a dance between absurdity, spectacle, and
philosophy. On his fourth studio album, Winged Victory, Carlisle returns with his signature blend
of traditionally-rooted folk music and kaleidoscope of oddball characters to confer with his core
tenets in more overt and provocative ways.
Carlisle delivers Victory as the next chapter in his long-running direct address to the hope that by
understanding our collective suffering we might be free of it. He’s intent on creating art and a
well-rounded life in a broken world. The idea began with 2022’s Peculiar, Missouri when
Carlisle proclaimed “your heart’s a big tent, everybody gets in.” After gathering together all the
world’s weirdos and misfits under the big tent, with 2024’s Critterland, Carlisle let them loose
into the world. Now, on Winged Victory, they speak for themselves, unencumbered by social
expectations.
Victory, Carlisle’s first self-produced album, will be released June 27 via Signature Sounds. It
both indulges a few of his wildest dreams (including a version of Richard Thompson’s
“Beeswing,” among several traditional folk song covers), and feels like the inevitable sequel to
Critterland’s charismatic menagerie of chaos. Though occasionally raunchy, and routinely
provocative, Victory is not afraid to make a spectacle for the sake of a point. Victory should be
understood as a reflection. It revels in the beauty of tiny, monetarily-worthless moments and
things, offering with them a consideration of our innate humanity.