3.5/5: Bonnie "Prince" Billy returns with an album entrenched in his folk music heritage while, at the same time, remaining modern, diverse and forward-looking.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy may have an unusual stage name, but over the last few years, a series of stellar albums and collaborations have made it strangely apt. He is now widely acknowledged as folk music royalty.
He returns with The Letting Go (Drag City) a bluesy, lyrical record that tackles the enormous issues of love and mortality with a touching, unpretentious intimacy. Throughout the album, Billy’s deep, passionate voice is protean. At times it creaks and squeaks like a rusty gate, such as on the lushly-orchestrated “Cursed Sleep.”
Then on the next track, “No Bad News,” it comes across as gentle and delicate. This song possesses hints of medieval English folksongs with lyrics explore the themes of nature and death while a military-like snare-drum snaps behind the darkly minor chords flowing from acoustic guitars.
Billy’s uncanny ability to tap musical tradition is the defining characteristic of this album. The record’s opening track “Love Comes To Me,” for example, is a sleepy, spiritual love song that invokes the great ballads of the 1960s folk revival. While songs like “Cold & Wet” display an almost Depression Era mixture of pain and optimism.
Dawn McCarthy provides harmonies in a voice that offers a fascinating counterpoint to Billy’s rich tones. She often sounds like Joni Mitchell, brandishing a seemingly unlimited range that accents many of the album’s strongest tracks with mournful, shadowy back-up vocals.
The only drawback is that this album is unflinchingly mellow. Some listeners who are not hardcore folk fans may find it too low-key for frequent listening. Nevertheless, everyone, regardless of musical taste, will be struck by one of the album’s many masterful moments.
With The Letting Go, Bonnie “Prince” Billy shows listeners that he continues to evolve and will never be satisfied with following a preordained path. It is a pure, unadulterated statement of his musical heritage that, amazingly, still finds a way to look to the future.
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