Beware

Beware is, by my count, Will Oldham’s 6th solo album as Bonnie Prince Billy – after recording under the names Palace Music, Palace Brothers and his own, he seems to have long since settled in for the long haul under his royal pseudonym. The fact seems relevant, because there’s an increasing sense of comfort to his recent work, a sense that Oldham (now easing into middle age) is finally beginning to leave the restlessness of his early years behind and to accept a wiser, more seasoned identity. The lyrics sometimes seem to comment wryly on the persona he’s built up for himself over time: the lonely wanderer doomed to separation from his fellows, the sexually restless, curmudgeonly loner. “Time has come to leave childish things to the dirt/see what age brings” he sings on the mellow, reflective “I Don’t Belong to Anyone”, and the change of perspective is evident throughout the album.

While the title instructs us to beware, there isn’t much here to surprise or alarm anyone familiar with Bonnie’s recent work. The themes – death, solitude, failed love – are all there, and musically it’s of a piece with his last few releases. As with his previous album Lie Down In The Light, the musical accompaniment reflects the maturity and mood of the songs – the sound is fuller, and more countrified (quite deliberately; Oldham claims, in this interview, to have always seen his BPB alter-ego as “a Nashville songwriter”). The lyrics and song titles maybe be dark - ‘Death is Final‘, ‘You Don’t Love Me’ – but their delivery has become confident, even strident. There are moments (mostly in the album’s first half) where the arrangements, combining electric guitar, strings and a backing choir, are almost bombastic. There is even the playful (and surreal) appearance of what sounds like a marimba on “You Can’t Hurt Me Now”; Oldham is clearly more comfortable in his own skin these days, and the mood is frequently more upbeat, even, celebratory, than ever before.

While not wishing to begrudge the guy his well-earned contentment, though, I can’t be the only fan who sometimes feels like something has been lost. Oldham is at his best when at his most vulnerable, in the moments of existential terror on ‘I See A Darkness’ or in the hushed intimacy of ‘Master And Everyone‘. The songs on Beware sometimes seem cluttered, and the most effective are the ones which are allowed to breathe (‘There is Something I Have to Say‘) rather than being smothered in fiddle and harmonies. This isn't always the case - ‘I Won’t Ask Again’ ,with its unexpected, floaty chorus and looping fiddle line, is beautifully realised, and ‘I Am Goodbye' sounds genuinely joyful - but too often, the arrangements don't serve the songs well.

Oldham sings of loneliness and pain, but with a new kind of detachment; it feels throughout as if a certain rawness is missing, the sense (ever-present in his earlier work) that something great is at stake. This may be a knee-jerk reaction; there are great moments on this collection and, as with so much music, it may take repeated listens to connect with it. Oldham is one of the most original and distinctive songwriters of our era, and anything he does is worthy of your ears. I suspect, though, that when the dust settles on his canon, Beware isn’t going to be many people’s favourite.