BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY
We Are Together Again (Domino)
The musical progression of Will Oldham isn’t some irrepressible charge, each of his albums as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy developing on the breakthroughs of the last. Instead, his output feels more like the undulation of the sea – slowly shifting the soil as he returns to themes and forms in changed ways.
There’s an intertextual element to his work – note how Vietnam Sunshine contains the line “lie down in your light,” a callback to a 2008 BPB album title – and harking back with the wisdom of age seems to be a through-line here. We Are Together Again, Oldham says, was made “closer to the Ohio River” than any of his releases since his 1993 debut album as Palace Brothers, and Ned Oldham returns to his brother’s band after two decades. Fear of a future forced upon us by AI decision-makers is another recurring theme. But the beauty of Oldham’s approach is to leaven his lyrical concerns with collective joy in music making.
words ADAM JONES
