Chimpomatic

The dark brooding ‘Tonight’s The Night’-like cover points to a return to the bleak and sombre days of ‘I See A Darkness’ for ‘Beware’, Will Oldham’s latest album under his Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy moniker. However this is misleading, as this is Oldham at his most mature and confident, the fragility of his Palace days seem a long time gone. The sounds here is full and accomplished, complimented on occasions with forceful backing vocals, fiddles, slide guitar and trumpets.

As ever, Oldham’s gloomy yet playful side prevails, turning seemingly conventional compositions into more interesting beasts altogether. The rousing opener ‘Beware Your Only Friend’ sees his ‘soul sucking thoughts’ go from ‘you want to be my daughter’ to ‘I wanted you to be my Mother’.

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy albums are awkward buggers, as at first they can be quite underwhelming, but this is often misleading. Although his style changes, it often does so subtly and on initial listens you get pretty much what you expect. However, after some time they have a habit of slowly and surely getting under your skin.

‘I Don’t Belong To Anyone’ is up there with his greatest songs and best of all is the single ‘I Am Goodbye’ which is foot-stompingly upbeat for Oldham and catchy as hell to boot. So another very good Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album but as ever, it might take a few plays to see if it’s a great one.

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16th Mar 2009 - Tumblr