Bonnie Prince Billy - 'Beware' (Domino) Released 16/03/09

Will Oldham’s prolific rate of output has produced an album a year or more for the last decade, and this release confirms that he's not yet ready to buck that trend. The ominously titled Beware isn’t nearly as portentous as it sounds, and instead sees the Prince mining the same land he prospected on last year’s Lie Down In The Light. That is to say, this is a resolutely joyful album even where track titles might lead you to believe otherwise.

That anti-folk and alt-country have by turns been used to describe Oldham is both a testament to his refusal to be pigeonholed and an indication of the insecurities of certain listeners who would rather prefix their genres with words of safety or comfort. If this is you dear reader, you will be given no quarter by this record. It is a country record at heart; ‘alt’ I am afraid, is rarely to be seen. But this should not discourage you from a listening experience that may modestly reward you should you allow it.

As on Lie Down In The Light, Bonnie Prince Billy once more allows varied and lush instrumentation to roam on all songs here. Strings, horn, accordion, marimba, mandolin, steel pedal, more percussive depth and choral lines are but some of the sounds that add greater texture to the album as a whole. Indeed ‘I Don’t Belong To Anyone’ even seems to employ a distant coconut clip-clop, nearly sounding like a bona fide trail song from simpler times. All this may feel ill-fitting, even overwhelming on first listen, from an artist who has made his name with songs rooted in a pared back sound. However, restraint has been exercised here and the songs rarely sound muddled or overly complex.