Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Beware

Indie royalty reigns supreme

For such a consistent artist, Will Oldham has hit a particularly purple patch. Following last year’s undersung Lie Down In The Light, Beware is yet another collection of songs veering from the poignant to the amusing, with heartbreaking, filthy ruminations upon the turbulence of relationships.

Oldham has embraced a more elaborate sound than on any album, other than 2004’s Sings Greatest Palace Music. Whereas that record boasted a Nashville sheen, Beware has a jazzy lilt to its country leanings. The arrangements are inventive, with Dixieland horns, mandolin, flute and pedal steel fleshing out counter-melodies and embellishing choruses.

Oldham’s bleak wit comes to the fore in You Don’t Love Me, a story of carnal attraction taking precedence over affection, while You Can’t Hurt Me Now and You Are Lost are classic ballads reminiscent of Gram Parsons’ solo material. I Won’t Ask Again could be the pick of the bunch, a Neil Young flavoured tear-jerker that stands up to anything Shakey’s produced.

In a recent New Yorker interview, Oldham joked that he’ll walk the promotional treadmill with this LP, if only to prove to his record company that it would little effect his commercial fortunes. Let’s hope he’s proved wrong. The more people that discover this fine record and its songwriter, the better.

5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars

Domino | WIGCD 223

Reviewed by Jamie Atkins
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