Bonnie "Prince" Billy- "Beware'

‘Beware’ is the 8th solo release from Will Oldham’s alter-ego, Bonnie “Prince” Billy. It is perhaps his most ambitious record to date, yet is also a move towards the mainstream.

‘Beware’ is an extremely dense and layered piece of work, fueled by a mixture of alt-country, folk and Americana. It is filled with songs that refuse to fit into set categories, as they shift from a mood of light to dark, strangely evoking both joy and deep agonizing despair.

This album sees Oldham implement a wide range of instrumentation, with opener ‘Beware Your Only Friend’ setting the stage, with its use of sweeping fiddles and female choir. Mostly the wide range of instrumentation on ‘Beware’ complements Oldham’s vocal, though at times the large array of additional vocals tend to swamp Oldham, and he becomes slightly lost amongst them.

Considering the title of the album and the titles of some of the songs you would expect ‘Beware’ to sound very melancholic. As expected, Oldham serves up beautiful lyrics, but they are wrapped in sweeping country melodies and gaudy instrumentation, which is incredibly jarring.

One of the most poignant tracks on the album ‘There Is Something I Have To Say’ takes a more stripped down sound and pares it with Oldham’s lyrics, to leave a hauntingly beautiful song. In complete contrast is next track ‘I Am Goodbye’ which comes along with its jolly country. This is one of the main problems with ‘Beware’, the really good songs lose poignance because what comes either side of them is so cheesy and over the top.

‘Beware’ is an intriguing piece of work, but the problem is that it is not bleak enough, and it lacks an edge. The overall themes of separation and longing dressed up in such gaudy country arrangement just don’t work.

It is ultimately the most stripped down songs on the album, like “I Won’t Ask Again’ which work best. They are still layered but in a way that drives the songs along, rather than assaulting your ears with over arrangement.

‘Beware’ is an ambitious piece of work, but one which doesn’t live up to Oldham’s previous high standards, i’d recommend sticking to his back catalogue.

6/10.