Bonnie “Prince” Billy announces new single

“Time To Be Clear” out on Drag City on Feb. 28

Plus, watch his Black Cab Session here!

It was four months ago this day – well, actually, on a day very much like this day anyway, that the world heard its first of Bonnie Prince Billy new album, Wolfroy Goes to Town. Four months. Not that long a-tall. Since then, there’s been shows played, commercials run, station IDs recited, videos dropped…all in the service of the deceptively light (but actually quite heavy) words and music of Wolfroy. This is a record that takes some spins to sort through, and so to hep you down in the endless path, here’s a single to regrooving a Wolfroy favorite. But first –

What world do you live in? Are you online or on the street? Because real life on Earth has its limits. For instance, check out this math – one four-minute album track plus two four-minute non-album on two sides of a 7″ single. It can’t be done! And so, if you are digital, you hear “Time to be Clear” from the album Wolfroy Goes to Town, followed by the non-LP songs “Whipped” and “Out-of-Mind.” If you are live, you are down at the record shop, buying a two-song 7″ called “The B-Sides for “Time to be Clear”” and “Time to be Clear” is back on your album at home! But it doesn’t matter, because both these non-LP B’s are little monsters, rooted in the same dark earth as Wolfroy, but reaching for higher peaks, as sides of singles always should. Starting with a familiar weary tone and limping gait-lessness, “Whipped,”
soon ascends to heights of emoting vocals not encountered throughout the entire album that preceded it. The comfy bob-and-strut of 21st century honky-tonk gives “Out-of-Mind” a sweet jukebox feeling, again creating a safe place for naked expression to occur in short order.Yes, the pleasures are fairly immense here, in the way that only two songs can provide.

These songs were recorded with the suddenly-ubiquitous Bonny crew of Ben Boye, Van Campbell, Emmett Kelly, Danny Kiely and Angel Olson. Both sides were recorded with David Ferguson, who brings his strong roots and subtle flair to the mix. Those of you with sharp eyes and ears may already know that Fergie brought his extensive experiences to the Bonny-Sweeney 10″ single of last summer “There Is No God.” Fergie and Bonny go all the way back to the session ten years gone when Bonny was summoned to the Johnny Cash session where his own “I See a Darkness” was being recorded by The Man himself. Fergie was Cash’s main engineer then and his presence there was a calming and centering one to Bonny. The sweet and natural feel of the recordings they have made over the last couple years are a testament to their bond.

The cover drawing was supplied by the great American artist, publisher and aesthete, Sammy Harkham. Those of you who wear Bonny’s doo-rag know this image, as it is emblazoned on top of your head. Ever the trail-razer, Bonny hops into something funny here: a three-song 7″ single with its head chopped off! Rather than try something silly like put the songs on a larger format (because who in their right mind would…um, that is -), the b-sides are accorded the space they need to rock and groove while the A-side exists in our head (and online, where space and sound ain’t an option, is they? hur!), an echo of the epic, endless album that was (and still is, kids!) Wolfroy Goes to Town.

BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY

4/26/12 Holmfirth Picturedrome Holmfirth United Kingdom w/ Trembling Bells 4/28/12 The Frog and Fiddle Cheltenham United Kingdom w/ Trembling Bells 5/2/12 Acorn Arts Centre Penzance United Kingdom w/ Trembling Bells 5/4/12 The Bullington Arms Oxford United Kingdom w/ Trembling Bells

Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Time To Be Clear
(Drag City)
Street Date: Feb. 28, 2012
Formats: digital

Track List:

1. Time To Be Clear
2. Whipped
3. Out-Of-Mind

Bonnie “Prince” Billy
The b-sides for Time To Be Clear
(Drag City)
Street Date: Feb. 28, 2012
Formats: 7″ vinyl

Track List:

1. Whipped
2. Out-Of-Mind

Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Wolfroy Goes To Town
(Drag City)

Track List:
1. No Match
2. New Whaling
3. Time To Be Clear
4. New Tibet
5. Black Captain
6. Cows
7. There Will Be Spring
8. Quail and Dumplings
9. We Are Unhappy
Night Noises
10.

BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY LINKS:

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonnie-Prince-Billy/110836208944752

Label – http://www.dragcity.com/artists/bonnie-prince-billy