Today I Started Celebrating Again - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Despite the foreboding title and bleak black and white cover art -- a curious nod to the first Danzig album -- Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Beware is an inviting entry into Will Oldham's haunting repertoire. But a closer look reveals the layers of dark imagery hiding inside some of Oldham's most gorgeous, complex songs about the nature of love, happiness and existential rumination. Each song serves a cautionary tale, arriving as a Trojan horse that charms with a comfortable glow before opening up to expose its damaged character. The bucolic, acoustic strum and declaration -- "I want to be your only friend" -- that opens the album on "Beware Your Only Friend" suggests something more destructive than the naïve affections evoked by Oldham's words and sweet voice.
