Will Oldham has been recording for many years now; originally his albums were releases with a pseudonym - often a derivation of ‘Palace’ - until he settled on the named Bonnie Prince Billy for his 1999 album I See a Darkness. His previous releases have garnered him much deserved critical praise. Always difficult to categorise Oldham gathers together elements from many genres of music, pop folk and country.

The thing I liked about the Velvet Underground is that no one quite sounded anything like them, the Velvet Underground only sound like the Velvet Underground - likewise though there are some of Oldham’s roots showing, his combination of influences with his own original voice produce a singular musical sound.

His latest album, the seventh under the Billy name, Beware shows that Oldham continues to go from strength to strength. The album, as a whole, leaves one with a feeling of bleak foreboding - a feeling further enhanced by the stark cover which reduces Oldham’s head to almost a minimalistic skull and the peculiar picture of a green screaming monkey on the disc itself.

The album, itself, turns out to be a more playful event than its packaging would suppose. Oldham has the ability of delivering the most absurd lyrics (“Sometimes you like the smell of me or how my stomach jiggles. But you don't love me...”) with such conviction that you’re not sure where the sorrow ends and the joke begin.

The opening track ‘Beware Your Only Friend’ is a languid combination of Oldham’s lilting vocals set to a country background with elements of gospel thrown in; this is American folk music with an anarchistic punk sensibility.

The album combines these large busy numbers with more intimate moments - at the very least the album's thirteen tracks makes you sit up and listen, even if you’re not sure whether you should be laughing or crying.

8

Charles Packer