Bonnie Prince Billy – Lie Down in the Light
Well, after the genius of The Letting Go, I’ll admit that my hopes were very high for this album. I wouldn’t say they’ve exactly been fulfilled though, and it might be possible that Mr. Oldham has gone just a little bit too pop. The Letting Go, from 2006, took earlier ultra-hushed work like Master & Everyone and gave it a looser, more melodic, hook-laden working over.
This time around the jauntiness seems to slightly derail the beauty of Oldham’s usual songwriting. There’s nothing wrong with any of it exactly, just that as the songs take off and start to flit and dance around, playing with muted brass and careful harmonies, they tend to forget to take the listener with them.
I don’t know how else to put it – it’s all there and all in the right places, but somehow I am constantly finding myself left behind as the song pulls off into the distance. Some of it is just plain gorgeous of course – with Will Oldham how could it not be – with So Everyone my personal favourite, highlighted by a wonderfully equivocal duet that rises to a question and then disappears before furnishing an answer. There are plenty more moments like this as well, and I would never say that there aren’t any great bits to be found, it’s just that generally I don’t seem to be following where it is leading.
Bonnie Prince Billy – So Everyone
Bonnie Prince Billy – For Every Field There’s a Mole
Such a legend. I love these tunes. The second one especially, with its mellotron and jaunty clarinet. Splendid.
hello.
popped in for something else and ended up here.
personally (when is it not?) i think this is musically one of his most coherent records. sometimes the tendency to put the words – those beautiful goddam words – and voice to the fore left the actual instrument bits somewhat lacking. this for me strikes a damn good balance and is for this reason (and a few others) a bloody good album. the last three songs in particular are close to the best twelve minutes of music he’s written.
cheers!
I bought this album just before heading off on a camping trip to the Lakes and it soundtracked pretty much every car journey we took for the whole week. B”P”B is certainly enhanced by atmospheric surroundings and I think that helped me fall in love with this album. Nevertheless, I think it is excellent. Not one of his best, but still superb.
A lot of music can be like that. I do really like it, I’m just not as grabbed as I was by The Letting Go, nor do I find it as haunting as Master & Everyone, although that album was slightly patchy as a whole.
Having followed Will Oldham’s career since the early quavering vocals days of Palace and Palace Brothers, it was nice to see that, with the Bonnie Prince Billy moniker, the oft-bearded one found his true voice and a desire to continually push his own boundaries… That said, I agree with you about the bittiness of the songs on offer here. I’m a big fan of Ease Down The Road – a fantastic collection of songs, each one worthy of being stuck on repeat.
Cheers for the tip – must check that one out.