Los Angeles based Lionel Williams is a visual artist and musician who’s been releasing music under his Vinyl Williams alias since 2010. As a result of experiencing religious & cultural dissonance growing up in the state of Utah, Williams reacts by creating dream worlds of religious & cultural harmony. It’s through his art – both musical, visual, and the music videos he’s directed for bands like Tears for Fears and Unknown Mortal Orchestra – that Williams projects himself well beyond the stasis of his youth, his metaphysical dream worlds in constant forward motion, with ancient mystical symbols, utopian architecture and exotic locales all enveloped in a rippling, VHS haze of psychedelia. These worlds are uniquely William’s own; everything released under the Vinyl Williams project is written, performed and produced solely by multi-instrumentalist Lionel.

With the upcoming new album Into, Williams leaves behind the murkier lo-fi production of his 2012 debut full-length, Lemniscate, for more textured, somnambulant pop. The new album, out July 24th on Chaz Bundick’s (Toro Y Moi, Les Sins) Company Records, moves him into a more vivid, multi-colored dream world than ever before. Unlike the dramatic film scores of his grandfather (famed composer and conductor John Williams), Williams’ songs are more introspective, and blend ambient, electronic, Krautrock, psychedelia and shoegaze influenced.

Vinyl Williams will be touring North America this spring with Toro Y Moi through May 10, and then more dates out West with Unknown Mortal Orchestra during July and August. You can also listen to William’s new single “World Soul” below.