Tracks
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Cursed Sleep"
(2006)
By Peter Hepburn | 28 January 2008
With Will Oldham I’m always curious to see what comes next, though never without a certain apprehension. Is he ready to settle down and pull out another classic, or is it gonna be jokey rehashings, sex jokes, and “weird-as-shit covers.” The latter are alright every now and again, but when you come right down to it I’d still take a Viva Last Blues or I See a Darkness any day. That’s my thinking when I got Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s “Cursed Sleep” single in the mail a few weeks back.
And then in one single, five-and-a-half minute shot, Oldham once again ups the ante. I’ve had the song in heavy rotation for the last two weeks, looking for a flaw. Somewhere in there something must be askew, just slightly off. But it isn’t; it’s just that fucking good.
Jim White and Paul Oldham keep the rhythm section chugging along slowly. Emmett Kelly’s searing guitar lines makes a perfect counterpoint to Ryder McNair’s perfect, soulful string section. Still, though, it’s the matching of Oldham and Dawn McCarthy (of Faun Fables, and sounding for all the world like an even-more-sultry Chan Marshall) that makes this song absolutely explode. I have a hard time coming up with a comparison in Oldham’s vast back catalogue, other than to say that it incorporates, and builds upon, nearly all the best elements that Oldham has worked with. The strings are better, the guitar lines rival even his work last year with Matt Sweeney, and his voice is the best it’s ever sounded. If this is any indication of what we can expect from Then The Letting Go, then it’s time to get very excited.
And then in one single, five-and-a-half minute shot, Oldham once again ups the ante. I’ve had the song in heavy rotation for the last two weeks, looking for a flaw. Somewhere in there something must be askew, just slightly off. But it isn’t; it’s just that fucking good.
Jim White and Paul Oldham keep the rhythm section chugging along slowly. Emmett Kelly’s searing guitar lines makes a perfect counterpoint to Ryder McNair’s perfect, soulful string section. Still, though, it’s the matching of Oldham and Dawn McCarthy (of Faun Fables, and sounding for all the world like an even-more-sultry Chan Marshall) that makes this song absolutely explode. I have a hard time coming up with a comparison in Oldham’s vast back catalogue, other than to say that it incorporates, and builds upon, nearly all the best elements that Oldham has worked with. The strings are better, the guitar lines rival even his work last year with Matt Sweeney, and his voice is the best it’s ever sounded. If this is any indication of what we can expect from Then The Letting Go, then it’s time to get very excited.