And best of all, Oldham is perhaps the greatest of human singers, in that he sounds like a real person. The familiar touches are all here- dense, ominous words and subtle flourishes of guitar, drums, bass, organs, and piano. Even his substandard records have always had their glory moments.īut here he is again, with a new name, and his consummate offering. If, previous to I See a Darkness, Oldham had simply quit, he would have carved out his share of the American Gothic with his tales of death, religious reckoning, incest, and wayward horses in the cold stone of history. Throughout his musical life, Oldham has been churning out dark, literary dirges with help from a veritable who's-who of Important Rock and Rollers (members of Slint, the High Llamas, and Gastr del Sol).
It felt wrong."īonnie "Prince" Billy is the current moniker of Will Oldham, also known as Will Oldham. I couldn't just have it on in the background. A friend of mine said this: "I was listening to it the other day and someone called. It doesn't register in the familiar ways of a pop record (although conceptually speaking, it is one). It's no "Walking on Sunshine", but hey, it's a start.I'm firmly convinced that Bonnie "Prince" Billy's new record, I See a Darkness is not music. Perhaps the biggest curiosity, however, lies within "Nomadic Revery (All Around)", which, though seeming at first like yet another musing on the horrific trials of life, is actually about ***ing. "Madeleine-Mary" is a surprising rocker that acts as a refreshing change of pace for the album, serving as a little cool-off before the album is back to its old tricks. When Oldham steers away from his own formula of sadness and strumming, however, is when the album works best. "Raining in Darling", which closes off the album, shows the artist doing his best Springsteen impression, and it's a huge success, being desperate, hopeful and lovely all in the same breath. However, Oldham also has a knack for songwriting that feels uncommonly timeless, and I See a Darkness exemplifies this in full: quickie "Knockturne" comes off as intriguingly hypnotic, despite (or perhaps because of) its deceptively simple piano line.
#I see a darkness album full
Furthermore, Oldham lays his own supposed bleak outlook on a little too thick at times, especially when the tracklist presents the one-two punch of "Another Day Full of Dread" and "Death to Everyone". At first, it presents an unpolished charm, but, upon further inspection, it's a sort of incongruity with the album's purpose as if Oldham is getting lazy about his own deep-and-dark feelings. As a whole, I See a Darkness is sparse and imprecise, placing a few piano lines, an electric guitar riff, and some unobtrusive drumbeats slightly amiss each other, giving the whole album a disjointed feel (especially when Oldham overdubs his own nervous voice in this same manner). Oldham's music also sends the words home. Most of I See a Darkness largely works because it rings true, each crackle and hiccup of Oldham's worn voice giving a little authenticity to each anguished line, even if Oldham occasionally throws out a few strained inquiries or puzzling aphorisms. But don't be surprised if you suddenly have an urge to dress like Johnny Cash. Which isn't to say I See a Darkness is the kind of relentlessly harrowing pain-without-proprietary release that many underground artists suddenly realized acted as both a primal-scream therapy for the creator and an easy emotional attachment for the consumer. In fact, he's being quite the Debbie Downer. Prozac, stat!: on his sixth release (the first under his new "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy" moniker), Will Oldham's gotten himself into a bit of a bleak spot whether it be a comrade seemingly blind to Oldham's deepest secrets ("I See a Darkness"), or his little dwelling safe from the rest of the world ("A Minor Place"), or, why not, a color ("Black"), the alt-folk artist has got his sights set on something, and he sure is hell isn't happy about it. Review Summary: Strummity, strummity, strummity, feelings, feelings, feelings.
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