Track Listing

1. Minor Place
2. Nomadic Revelry (All Around)
3. I See A Darkness
4. Another Day Full Of Dread
5. Death To Everyone
6. Knockturne
7. Madeline Mary
8. Song For The New Breed
9. Today I Was The Evil One
10. Black

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10140 in Music
• Released on: 1999-01-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Will Oldham, the artist formerly known as Palace, has never been concerned with creating pop music. Oldham's forte, murder ballads, anti-spirituals, dead-sea chanteys, and lost-love songs, has always been "difficult", forcing the listener to confront some rather unseemly topics. Say this about Oldham, however, despite his quirks (cracking vocals, shambolic instrumentation, baroque language), at its best, his music is bracing and, often, very beautiful. That said, I See a Darkness, his second LP since abandoning the Palace moniker, is the most accessible, gorgeous, and moving record of his career. Instead of the gothic, low-fi country feel of many of his projects, Darkness comes off sounding like an early-1970s Neil Young album, comprised of a stately piano backbone and fleshed out by loose-fitting guitar strums. Stylistically, Oldham mixes things up on Darkness and his full band sounds, for once, well practiced and well recorded. Sure, Oldham is still singing about the blackness of his soul, but in between--in small bursting moments--there are bits of light, hope, and a suggestion that maybe--just maybe--there may be redemption through love. That message, presented in these carefully constructed, gently offered songs, pushes this recording beyond the usual, curious appeal of Oldham and into an entirely new realm of greatness. --S. Duda

CD Description
After abandoning the Palace moniker for a straight-up solo career, Will Oldham seemed to lose his focus a bit, but rechristened as Bonnie Prince Billy, he's regained it in spades.Where his previous solo efforts sounded thrown-together andlacked real songcraft, I SEE A DARKNESS is probably Oldham's most consistent, rewarding batch of songs since the PalaceBrothers '93 debut. For once, the ever-elusive Oldham sounds like he's making a genuine effort to communicate--the relatively straightforward (but still poetic) lyrics, nicely arranged (but still lo-fi) sonic backdrops, and song structureswith hummable (!) choruses are all unprecedented and highlyagreeable developments. The titular darkness pervades much of the album, but there's an underlying warmth that shines through, making this an emotionally well-balanced effort.

Customer Reviews

Hmm...I Hear A Great Album
If you do not own this, buy it now. Not half as dark as the title suggests, this record is a joyous and life affirming one. It show Will Oldham, usually purveyour of quite 'difficult' lo-fi pieces, made with the cream of the post-rock scene, abandon his routes and go (almost) full on pop. Much as he did with his 1995 album, 'Viva Last Blues'. All Oldham projects are essential, especially to the type of obsessive fans he tends to attract (see: Edith Frost, who left a reasonable internet based job, to make music, solely inspired by the early Palace projects). This is without doubt the album to begin with. If you have stumbled on this page accidentaly, buy this album, it will change your life. And if you are purposefully looking for this recording - why do you not own it already. Not MY favourite Oldham album, but it will soon be yours :)

One of the best albums to be released in the last 20 years
I can't believe there aren't more reviews for this album! My initial experience of Will oldham was one of bemusement- songs like 'Come a Little Dog', 'Kid of Harith' & 'Apocalypse, No!' seemed a little too wayward for me to devote to. (Though I'd unknowingly seen Oldham in John Sayles excellent 'Matewan' years before)...Then I heard the excellent 'Blue Lotus Feet' e.p., which kickstarted the Bonnie Prince Billy moniker- the brief devotional songs and the mindblowing 'One with the Birds', coupled with Uncut's review got me to buy this album. As these were the days prior to cd burners, both housemates of mine heard it and went out and got a copy. We all seemed to listen to it at night- and recently- after a break from it, I rediscovered it. And its got a whole lot better. I believe it is as classic an album as possible- next to recent contenders like '69 Love Songs' and 'Nixon'.

'A Minor Place' is the opening lull, contrasting with the imagery "the scars of last year's storm rest like maggots on my arm". The bridge, with its church-sounding organ is as fine as anything I've ever heard...'Nomadic Revery (all around)' is next- a song which seems to build to a 'Sympathy for the Devil' style series of whooping backing vocals. 'I see a darkness' is next, this has recently been covered by Johnny Cash- a minimal blend of guitar and piano- which is abated by 'Another Day Full of Dread'. This cheery titled song has a call/response vocal and a childhood quality. One of the highlights, 'Death to Everyone' is next. The chorus "Death to everyone is gonna come/and it makes hosing much more fun" reminds me of Kinky Friedman's use of the term 'hosing' or the classic Foetus song 'Clothes Hoist' (whose lyrics are: "I like the way you fill out your clothes/I'm gonna stick my head under your hose"!)...'Knockturne' is fragile Roky Erikson/Syd Barrett territory- close to songs like 'Blue Lotus Feet'. As a Satie style piano continues, the final verse transcends the song and subtle string-sounds appear in the background...'Madeline-Mary' is next, a fractured sea-shanty, not far from the world of Nick Cave- or The Birthday Party's 'Jennifer's Veil'...'Song for the New Breed' has words written by Dianne Bellino for the sreenplay, 'The New Breed'. This is closer to the earlier sound of Palace...'Today I was an Evil One' is another highlight- a divine piano led number that builds to a fine hoedown in hell of a chorus...'Black' is a Beckettian romp through the hell of the despairing mind (with funeral coloured irony). Oldham transcends this darkness with the final song, the minimal 'Raining in Darling'. The song begins like a devotional number, a stark 'Motherless Child', to a transcendent uplift where BPB sings: "O it don't rain anymore/I go outdoors/where it's fun to be". It has the same effect as listening to the whole of 'Happy Sad' or 'Astral Weeks'. The final words are, tellingly, not written on the excellent liner!...As far as I'm concerned, 'I See A Darkness' is one of the finest albums ever released- I still love it, more dearly with each listen, even after close to three years. And it make's hosing much more fun!

Regal Beauty
I came late to Will Oldham, but 'I See A Darkness' is a near perfect collection of acoustic singer-songwriting. It starts with the gentle nod of 'A Minor Place' which recalls the Decemberists' literacy and Neutral Milk Hotel's pronounced sense of atmosphere and place. This opening is relatively upbeat. From then on in, his gentle, forlorn tales of love, and more commonly loss, make contemporaries Iron & Wine sound playful, newcomer Bon Iver sociable.

There is an awkwardness to the spotlight, but one that is compensated for in the virtually unparalleled beauty of Oldham's craft. This is a condensing of Neil Young and Nick Drake. 'Today I Was An Evil One' allows the country influences to shine, 'Knockturne' and album closer 'Raining In Darling' are piano-led ballads to rival those of Nick Cave. But it is the title track that steals the show, an unplugged prophecy of doom of breath-taking and tear-jerking beauty equivalent to, if not surpassing, Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah'.

As close to perfection as is possible for the genre.