Will Oldham's new record, his fifth album of original songs as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, has appeared without much fanfare or promotion. That's strange as it is the follow-up to 2006's exceptional 'The Letting Go' which was recorded in Iceland, featured some gorgeous strings and was possibly a career highlight.
On 'Lie Down In The Light' Oldham continues his recent trend of introducing a new singing partner on each album, this time Ashley Webber sings duets and harmonies with this. This is a much lighter record than 'The Letting Go', sounding more like a mix of the breezy 'Ease Down The Road' and 'Ask Forgiveness' the covers EP Oldham released last year.
Opener 'Easy Does It' is positively jaunty with a simple and joyful lyric to match. This tone continues for much of the record, with a prevailing feeling of confidence and comfort. Consequently the highlights are the two duets as they add an edge and a scope that is absent elsewhere. In particular, 'You Want That Picture' is wonderful, Webber's voice fitting in perfectly and an additional electric guitar make this, by some distance, the most powerful song on the album.
More duets with Webber would have been welcome, but she is mainly used for harmonies. This is a confident, assured record with some nice moments but it doesn't come close to reaching the heights of 'The Letting Go'.
7.5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment