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 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy More Revery (2000)  Rating (Out of 10): 8.5 Tracklisting: Someone's Sleeping/Sweeter Than Anything/Same Love That Makes Me Laugh Makes Me Cry/ A Dream Of The Sea/Strange Things/Just To See You Smile This album by Bonnie Billie is a little gem. And little it most definitely is. At only six tracks long it‘s barely an album at all. But don’t let that put you off. If ever there was proof that size doesn’t matter then this is it! Bonnie Billy, otherwise known as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Bonnie ‘Blue Billy’, Will Oldham or the Palace Brothers is a highly prolific and highly talented singer songwriter who has released a multitude of albums over the last two decades under a variety of guises and has also made guest appearances on albums by the likes of Johnny Cash and Bjork to name but two. In fact, Cash recorded Oldham’s track ‘I See A Darkness’ on his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man which featured Oldham on backing vocals. More Revery was recorded live in the Palace du Congress in 2000. The fact that it was recorded live just adds to it’s charm and makes you realize just how good a performer Oldham really is as the entire album is flawless. It is a collection of cover versions which Oldham most definitely makes his own. He has employed a very clever song choice throughout the album. The six artists whose songs get the Oldham treatment are John Philips, PJ Harvey, Bill Withers, The Renderers, John Holt, and Tim McGraw. I have to admit to not having even heard of three of these artists and of the three that I have heard of it’s only PJ Harvey that I know particularly well, and even then the PJ song in question isn’t a particularly famous one. The anonymity of the song and artist choice works really well. It doesn’t seem like a covers record at all. All six of these songs could easily be Oldham’s own work. Oldham has skilfully chosen 6 burried gems and unearthed them, given them his own treatment and unleashed them on the world, celebrating their greatness. ‘Sweeter than Anything’, the PJ Harvey cover is the most upbeat song on the record. Oldham temporarily leaves his low-fi, understated comfort zone to really belt this one out. The vocals are great and uncharacteristically load and strong, and it’s something that really works for him on this particular song. The final track ‘Just to See you Smile’ is without a doubt the best song on here, in my opinion anyway. Originally a Tim McGraw song, Oldham takes this away from its country origins, and strips it bare leaving a beautiful, delicate song with vocal harmonies that will totally blow you away. ‘Strange Things’ most definitely lives up to its name. I haven’t heard the original, but I doubt very much that it bears more than a mere passing resemblance to this version. There’s lot of special effects, with a weird echo-like vocal and a sparce, stripped down backing. The overall effect is something eerie and haunting. Oldham displays a multiple of talents on this little mini-album – his vocal and musical talent being only two of many. He really demonstrates his ability to take a song that wasn’t his own and do something really special with it, something unique. This album really gives a new meaning to the term cover version. Oldham shows how it really should be done. It’s not just about singing someone else’s song. It’s about revision and envisioning something new out of something old. Send A Comment |