
8.4
The Purple Bird
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
A Bonnie Prince Billy record is always cause for celebration, and you know what you’re gonna get. Kind of. He is the “shape-shifting” kind, and although there is a through line of somberness and celebration to everything he does, you don’t know if it’s gonna be a deep dive into the darkness of his brain or a simple song about how fun it is to go for a dip in the water, like on the song “The Water’s Fine,” off his new album of twelve expertly crafted songs, called The Purple Bird.
This time around, Will Oldham worked with a producer for only his second time in his long career, David “Ferg” Ferguson, who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash and Sturgill Simpson along with “the best band you can get in Nashville right now.” That shows up in stunning arrangements, like on the song “New Water” which has compelling horns, charming hammond organ, and emotive fiddle.
That is the thing about this album, which has been a characteristic of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s most recent albums: he still holds onto his signature weirdness while making everything more appealing and accessible to the mainstream. Possibly as a result of songwriting collaboration, but the songs, while as deep as ever, are as palatable as the most popular country-influenced artists out there, right now. A wise move for an artist who will certainly be looked back on for many years after he’s gone as a sort of John Prine or Leonard Cohen.
There are, of course, still songs that only Bonnie “Prince” Billy could write and sing. Like the song, “Guns Are For Cowards.” “Who would you shoot in the face? / Who would you shoot in the brain? / Who would you shoot in the back and leave bleeding out in the rain?” Like on many of his songs, he taps into the anger, heartbreak, pathos, and desperation of human existence. Of course we’ve all wanted to off someone at one time or another. But will it leave us “exalted? / or destroyed?”
There are many songs about water on the album, like the classic-in-the-making, “Downstream,” on which he sings, “We’re learning the hard way that we all live downstream.” The shapeshifting nature of water in many of these songs captures the playfulness of life as Bonnie “Prince” Billy sees it, but also the very real need we all have for its life-giving sustenance. Each of the songs, whether it’s one of my favorite “pre-love” songs, “One of These Days (I’m Gonna Spend The Whole Night With You),” or his earnest and hopeful, “Is My Living In Vain?,” there is a seriousness, a gravitas, about life that is often unparalleled in Will Oldham’s music.
You could say, if you’ve heard one Bonnie “Prince” Billy album, you’ve heard them all. But the specificity of his song topics, the genius of his simple melodies, the inner workings of one of the most interesting souls living today, make every new offering by Will Oldham a treasure, to be sure. I think this one will get many plays in the days to come, and his accessibility on this album is a positive not a negative attribute. His humor, his pathos, his very real concern for the hungry, whether it’s for love or for justice, make any Bonnie “Prince” Billy album a necessary edition to the American songbook.
order The Purple Bird by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy HERE
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