The latest Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy release, Wonder Show of the World, is a collaborative effort with guitarist Emmett Kelly and his band The Cairo Gang. Arguably Billy’s discography is dense with rich collaborations, and Kelly, who played on 08’s Lie Down in the Light and 06’s The Letting Go contributes a new intimacy to the country/folk/blues driven guitar riffs and sparse percussion arrangements. While the sound is intoxicating, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s graphic lyrics are not for the faint of heart. On “The Sounds Are Always Begging,” the narrator awakes to his wife chopping up their bed, while he lays there, scarred stiff with “”smell of your box on my moustache.” The tracks maintain Oldham’s characteristic lo-fi simplicity and driven intensity in this familiar yet fresh collection. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Sam Amidon, Molina & Johnson, Palace Brothers, Smog, The Tallest Man on Earth, Sharon Van Etten