Will Oldham is again with one other new Bonnie “Prince” Billy album: The Purple Hen will arrive on January 31 by way of No Quarter. The follow-up to 2023’s Conserving Secrets and techniques Will Destroy You is led by the only “Our Residence,” which options Grammy Award–profitable mandolinist Tim O’Brien. The tune additionally comes with a music video full of stop-motion animations of Oldham and O’Brien performing the tune inside the confines of image frames hanging on a dollhouse wall. Watch it under.
Created in Nashville, Tennessee, with producer David “Ferg” Ferguson, who additionally co-wrote seven of the tracks, The Purple Hen marks simply the second time in Oldham’s profession that he’s labored with a producer. Although Oldham has collaborated with dozens of different musicians over time—Tortoise, Bryce Dessner, Matt Sweeney, Bitchin Bajas, and, most just lately, Invoice Callahan—his indisposition to work with producers additional emphasizes this noteworthy choice.
“He’s a large of a person, an epic musical pressure, a pricey pal,” Oldham stated of Ferguson. “Our work collectively on this file was the results of years of sharing onerous occasions and nice joys, songs and tales, of constructing music collectively and aside. There’s lots of belief on this file on Ferg’s half and on mine, and the belief was hard- and well-earned. Once I take heed to the file, oftentimes I can’t assist however giggle in marvel that life allowed me to take part in such a factor.”
In recent times, Oldham shared covers of songs by Johnnie Frierson, Joan Shelley, and Scout Niblett, in addition to an previous tackle the Ramones’ “Outsider” that he recorded with the late David Berman, William Tyler, Chris Scruggs, and longtime collaborator Pete Townsend. He additionally paid tribute to Berman by linking up with Cassie Berman, Invoice Callahan, and others for a particular rendition of Silver Jews’ “The Wild Kindness.”
Examine Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See a Darkness” in “The 250 Finest Songs of the Nineties.”