BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You (Domino)
Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie, has been doing this a long time now – first sneaking onto radars in 1993 – and those 30 years of songwriting show on this fine new collection of songs. What is probably most remarkable about the Bonnie Prince’s output is how true to his vision he has remained: songs that reveal themselves over time through elegant, slightly wispy melodies, ruminative, sweetly off-kilter vocals and simple arrangements for guitar.
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You finds Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie mulling over some darker, state-of-the-nation stuff. On Sing Them Down Together he could be lamenting the election of the Orange One (“Careful who you praise and blame / Or you’ll lift up the wrong name”; “Ruin comes when we’re divided / Now we’ve let that knowledge slide”), whilst Trees Of Hell summons close harmonies and eerie viola saws to create a prickly, pagan vibe perfect for any folk horror project in the works.
words ADAM JONES