It took me a long while to start to watch the popular television show The Traitors. Set in the Scottish Highlands the aim of the game is to survive being “murdered” by a small group of carefully selected traitors. Watching the show, I couldn’t help but think that the music of Bonnie “Prince” Billy, might have fitted in well to the soundtrack of the show. Will Oldham has written plenty of songs about murder, death, treachery and beautiful scenery. For his latest album, entitled We Are Together Again, Oldham has elected to go full widescreen with stunning instrumentation conjuring up imagery of cornfields, long roads and the wild open expanse of the countryside. The album considers fear of how the world is shaping up but rather than add to the angst wants to embrace the willing and bring a little hope.
The sessions for Oldham’s previous album The Purple Bird inspired this collection, which was recorded close to the Ohio River. Featuring a host of superb musicians, the string arrangements by Cousin Ryder McNair are truly spectacular. Amongst the many instruments you’ll hear (some played by his current touring band) we have harp, flutes, saxophone, strings, various woodwind, accordion, modular synths as well as good old guitars, drums and bass, played by brother Ned who returns to the fold after nearly two decades.
You can often tell what sort of BPB album you’re in for from the opening track and the melancholic melody and lush arrangements to opener ‘Why Is The Lion’ points early towards something great. Harmonised vocals courtesy of Lacey Guthrie, Tory Fisher and Katie Peabody combined with Oldham’s sweet frail voice make for such a touching aural experience. The latter half of the song stretches out into some beautifully arranged melodic meadows as various instruments make stunning little cameos.
There’s a massive amount of music in Oldham’s back catalogue, but I have found a lot of it either hasn’t captivated me musically. For this album Oldham is on point lyrically and musically. The simply arranged ballad ‘They Keep Trying To Find You’ has a memorable melody and is sung with such tenderness. ‘Strange Trouble’ is a sweet duet that paraphrases David Bowie with the wondrous lyric “change tastes like trouble and trouble tastes like change”. The opening words to the gorgeous ‘Life Is Scary Horses’ are “life is scary, we are scared, we’ve arrived here unprepared”. With a simple melody and panoramic string arrangements when the playful flute skitters into view it’s a joyous moment.
The warmth you feel in the charming ‘(Everybody’s Got a) Friend Named Joe’ is truly an emotive experience. Oldham’s storytelling and lyrics are direct and reassuring. ‘Vietnam Sunshine’ is the first and only song where my engagement dissipates, mostly because I enjoy a sad Oldham song than a happy clappy one. ‘Hey Little’ is a wholesome duet with Catherine Irwin, marvelling at the advancing growth of a child, a nice change in lyric from a lot of the other music I’ve been attuning to lately. That’s another reason why this album is a little special. ‘Davey Dead’ has a Morrissey-esque song title and tells a tragic tale which I find particularly near the mark as an old University friend was murdered at a night club years ago. Oldham takes such a dreadful event and turns it into a sweet ditty with heavenly harps and yearning strings. It’s one of his finest songs. ‘The Children Are Sick’ strips back the fuller arrangements for a death infused acoustic ballad sung with emotion and tenderness. Finally, ‘Bride Of The Lion’ bookends the album with revisiting the theme of the lion as fear, from the opening song. Taking the hymnal approach this song uses mournful voices to replace the elegant splendour of the strings. There’s a final surprise as an electric guitar slips into the mix as the voices swell to the skies.
I’ve a substantial Tom Waits collection. I’ve also collected pretty much everything Will Oldham has released under the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy guise. Like Waits, a fair amount of his back catalogue I’ll never listen to again as it’s as jarring as cracking your funny bone off a table. But as both legendary songwriters show, when they are good, they are very very good. We Are Together Again finds Will Oldham on top form, the “we” referenced in the title appears to be heartfelt and exceedingly good songs.
