BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY
Cursed Sleep
Drag City
· An early peek at upcoming full-length Then the Letting Go.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s (a.k.a. Will Oldham) Greatest Palace Music didn’t quite work, with its epic arrangements verging on suffocation. Followed up by last year’s Superwolf – a stark masterpiece recorded in a cabin with Matt Sweeney, himself feeling the indulgences of Billy Corgan’s Zwan – Greatest Palace Music seemed a misstep perhaps even Billy himself wanted some distance from.
Cursed Sleep sets the record straight within its first unveiling of the full-length Then the Letting Go’s stringed arrangements. The EP’s title track has Oldham cooing a spindly tale, "In her arms I tremble electric." "The Signifying Wolf" turns things grandly ridiculous, gutteral wolf growls and howls to make both Tom Waits and Bjork proud. Asking, "Do you like my seal skin trousers?" then exclaiming, "Nothing would make me happier than to see you swim too," the song is every bit as enigmatic and original as its creator. Wrapping up with "God’s Small Song," Oldham approaches the waterlogged improv territory he explored earlier with The Boxhead Ensemble. It’s a small triumph, spooky lyrical branches dangling apple eyes out of empty sockets.
A signifier of where he’s headed, Cursed Sleep sets good tidings in place for Then the Letting Go’s long-awaited arrival.
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