Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'No More Workhouse Blues' (Domino)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Who else could get away with releasing an entire album full of covers of his own songs and still receive blanket critical acclaim, nearly all proclaiming Will Oldham, the artist currently known as the 'Prince', to be some kind of overlooked, reclusive, caveman-like genius? Perhaps it was all in the gimmick. Tell you what Will, introduce your next album as covers of original songs you've never played to anybody before. See if they buy that.
In fact, scrap that, and buy this. Enough cynicism, the praise was garnered of course because of the majesty of the tunes, old Palace Brothers (Oldham's former band, if you hadn't gathered) classics dusted down and polished not in a way that suffocates them or detracts from their original rough beauty, but rather with the same care and delicacy you'd reserve for tending to a piece of fine antique china. Mmm, regal.
It's characteristically dark country music with a bizarre shadowy twist, a hand you want to hold no matter how shady the path it's leading you down. The true sign of genius is when they can sing something apparently meaningless to fade and have it still affect you in a way that makes parts of you shake. So, sings the 'Prince' repeatedly - 'I am your favourite horse! I am your favourite horse!' No question.
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