ALBUM OF THE WEEK: EASE DOWN THE ROAD — BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY (2001)

Everything about the album is so delicate. It features soft piano, meditative slide guitar, percussive acoustic strumming, and touches of the banjo and the violin. Synths and effects are used sparingly, with the swell on After I Made Love to You feeling almost like a psychedelic breakthrough, and voice modulations on The Lion Lair and Sheep creating a haunting tone.

Oldham’s warm and gentle, but often melancholy voice is softly shadowed by Catherine Irwin’s on After I Made Love to You, Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness, and Rich Wife Full of Happiness. Brighter than some of his other albums (like I See a Darkness), the album also features sing-along choruses with layered voices (Just To See My Holly Home and Rich Wife Full of Happiness), even if the lyrics are still somewhat cynical.

The music creates the perfect backdrop to Oldham’s poetry. Through his interviews it’s clear that he reads a lot, and it’s evident in his music. It’s littered with wistful odes to a lover (if somewhat twisted, for example in At The Break of Day), pastoral imagery (Sheep was my favourite song for a while), and the occasional playfully sexual line.

Personally, I discovered Oldham through his 1998 EP Blue Lotus Feet, a series of covers of spiritual mantras, so his music will always have a bit of a transcendent lilt to it to me. But there’s also an old English and Irish folk influence evident both in storytelling and the music. Careless Love sounds like an old ballad, and it may indeed be a reference to a traditional song of the same name (although the lyrics and melody are completely different).

The moniker, “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy” takes from a few places: Bonnie Prince Charlie, one of the pretenders to the English throne; the rhythm and regal reference of “Nat King Cole”; and gunslinger Billy the Kid’s real name, Billy Bonney. Oldham has also performed and recorded under Palace Music, Palace Brothers, and Will Oldham. He also forms one half of Superwolf with Matt Sweeney, who is credited on this album for vocals, guitar, and banjo.

Similar artists:

Bill Callahan/Smog

Magnolia Electic Co.

Blaze Foley

Leonard Cohen

Jason Molina

Silver Jews

Songs: Ohia

Lou Barlow/Sebadoh

Sibylle Baier

Howe Gelb/Giant Sand

Gillian Welch

Sun Kil Moon

Jeff Tweedy

Originally published on 19/06/24 on Medium.