Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Wolfroy Goes To Town
Drag City
2011
Rating: 6.5 quail cows out of 10
So Will Oldham aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy released a new album...is it just me or is he starting to approach Robert Pollard territory with the number of releases he's putting out these days? And like Pollard, not every song is a gem but his batting average is high enough that you'll give anything they put out a listen.
Lately it's felt like Oldham has been going for a bigger, almost alt-country full-band sound, but this album is a step back to simpler, Palace-style songwriting and performing. Very sparse instrumentation, exceedingly mellow, songs based mostly around just the man's voice and a guitar, with maybe a little organ or mellotron filling the background and the occasional female voice for accompaniment. "Black Captain" is a quality track and there are no stinkers on the record, but I'd be lying if I said this release was overly exciting. It's just good, and sometimes that's good enough.
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