Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Beware

Writing about failed relationships is a tricky thing, especially in pop music. There is a fine line between poignant, insightful anguish, and trite, stale sentiment. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy straddles that line admirably on his brilliant new record ‘Beware’, a vulnerable batch of stellar, heartbreaking songs that never sound cloying or saccharine. Guided along by the simple accompaniment of countrified guitar, fiddle, violin and a bevy of other organic instruments, Will Oldham lays his emotional cards on the uneasy table that is ‘Beware’, then upsets that table entirely through songs that resist easy definitions and conventional platitudes. The songs are honest examinations of what lies within ourselves when we are left utterly alone, and what qualities can possibly redeem us when we tire from being lonely.

The production is often as spare and subtle as the songs themselves, with very little sonic augmentation necessary on these simple arrangements, which only adds to the warm, natural feel of the record, and allows the tender, profound lyrics of Oldham to shine through. ‘Everyone has the eyes and ears to be where I have been,’ Oldham sings on the albums second track ‘You Can’t Hurt Me Now’, and while that assertion is indeed true, most listeners aren’t quite capable of turning what they’ve witnessed into something so penetrating and insightful as the songs on ‘Beware’. While the subjects of the songs are often wracked with despair and and a sense of longing, there is hope found within these songs, as well, as the search for truth and intimacy certainly endures long after everything and everyone else breaks down.

While the plaintive vocals and lyrics of Oldham surely is at the heart of ‘Beware’, the album benefits from a solid supporting band and a rotating cast of superlative musicians, featuring Califone’s Jim Becker, Jon Langford from the Mekon’s and former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach. But perfection isn’t necessarily what Oldham has ever strived for, settling instead for what can just get him through the night, and these songs are filled with those types of mournful resignations. Oldham is content having that burden. And, rather than being discouraged, he wears that millstone proudly, for something (even if it is pain, loneliness and abandonment) is indeed better than nothing, as he stately sings ‘I take this load on. It is my life’s work. To bring you into the light from out of the dark’ in the moving ‘My Life’s Work’. He has taken the pain from abandonment and turned it into something pure, something all of us can cling to when we’re lost, and know that Oldham has been there before and has survived. In fact, he’s found beauty there. ‘Afraid Ain’t Me’ closes the record out on an exalted high, with Will proclaiming positively ‘Alone I may be, but afraid ain’t me.’ You have no choice but to believe, and follow him onward out of the gloom.

‘Beware’ is Oldham’s soul laid bare, displayed for all of us to cling to in the darkness as we search for meaning amidst the din of our days. Inspiring and reassuring, despite all evidence to the contrary, this album is a beacon of light within the iniquity of the headlines, and is a stark masterstroke from a truly pioneering and singular artist that is currently operating at the peak of his potential.