Bonnie 'Prince' Billy or Will Oldham is the acoustic conscience of alternative music. An elusive artist with (often humorous) lyrics full of death and incest and music, who (also in terms of rattling) harks back to old American blues and folk traditions. To record The Letting Go he left for Reykjavik with drummer Jim White and singer Dawn McCarthy. The latter in particular leaves its mark on what
… is arguably Oldham's most coherent album. The atmosphere is pastoral and this time nowhere rattled or lo-fi, while Oldham's wailing minor voice is often supported by atmospheric strings (in addition to McCarthy's clear voice). The texts full of Old Testament doom sound more poetic than ever and this time they are stripped of every form of morbid glee. Oldham classics like I See A Darkness or Death To Everyone are missing, but the twelve songs (plus a hidden track) of The Letting Go give nothing but unadorned beauty and serenity in their place. (MR)more
