Track Listing

1. Easy Does It
2. You Remind Me Of Something (The Glory Goes)
3. So Everyone
4. For Every Field There's A Mole
5. Keep Eye On Other's Gain
6. You Want That Picture
7. Missing One
8. What's Missing Is
9. Where Is The Puzzle?
10. Lie Down In The Light
11. Willow Trees Bend
12. I'll Be Glad

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8615 in Music
• Released on: 2008-05-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk review
Will Oldham has built a reputation as a singer-songwriter who taps into a bleak folk tradition as old as America, so the sound of Lie Down In The Light , his sixth studio album under the still confusing pseudonym Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy comes as something of a surprise. Whichever way you look at it, this is an upbeat, uplifting record, almost sunny in outlook. Dedicated fans might not prefer him this way (many consider his first record under the name Palace Brothers, the timeless, stricken There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You to be definitive), but Lie Down In The Light is undeniably charming and rather witty with it. Take the unexpected clarinet that turns the conclusion of the already rather daft "For Every Field There’s A Mole" into something as light as a silent movie soundtrack, or the way that the otherwise Saturnine "Where Is The Puzzle?" remains unresolved. Ashley Webber, once of Canadian new wavers The Organ, duets but even her mournful contributions can’t deflect from Mark Nevers’ skilful production. Only the title track, following a often used Oldham chord change, really sounds generic. Oldham obviously remains set on creating a determinedly solid body of work, but the odd soufflé, such as Lie Down In The Light, doesn’t come amiss.--Steve Jelbert

CD Description
Following 2007's mini-album of covers, the ever prolific Will Oldham returns with his most upbeat album to be released under his Bonnie "Prince" Billy guise. Recorded with Nashville's Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico) and joined by regularsPaul Oldham and Emmett Kelly, 'Lie Down In The Light' sees Oldham deliver an album of harmony driven and lush sounding country and folk inspired songs whilst sticking with his dryand sometimes harsh lyrics.

Customer Reviews

Immerse yourself in the light
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Lie Down In The Light' is an album to be treasured, an alt.country/folk gem to allow to slowly soak into your subconscious over a few listens, one which you don't quite realise you love until the full beauty of the recordings hit you, but once you hit that point of no return, it is difficult to stop listening to it. What's more, this is something that could only be described as quite a happy album, maybe something that most fans wouldn't expect of Will Oldham. Still, this album is still unmistakably Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and isn't too much of a departure to alienate long-time admirers of his music.

From start to finish, this album is a delight. The light, breezy opener, 'Easy Does It', sets the album's generally cheerful mood. The duets with Ashley Webber, especially 'So Everyone' and 'You Want That Picture', are just superb. The more melancholy songs, such as 'Missing One' and 'Willow Trees Bend' have such a delicate beauty, they counter the more upbeat songs to produce a wonderful blend of light and shade. No matter the theme or arrangement of the song, each track on 'Lie Down In The Light' contains a melodic appeal which should keep you coming back to this album time after time to immerse yourself in everything it still has yet to reveal. Just beautiful.

The master!
There really should be a national compulsory day-off for the whole nation when a Will Oldham record is released! Because they should be savoured, like a fine wine (which incidentally always goes well with an Uncle Will record)- hence the reason I buy them all on vinyl - a listening experience! He is the benchmark for all songwriters of our generation and he astounds with every record. And this one is a real grower, just like The Letting Go which crept up on you stealthily and threw you to the ground mercilessly and has never let go since! Long live the prince!

Good Earthly Music
The opening chant of "One two three four" makes you think you have put on the Beatles' "Taxman" on by mistake but within seconds the unmistakeable stamp of Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy, the King of alt country appears.

"Lie Down In the Light" is a more country-sounding recording than "The Letting Go" emphasised by the fact that instead of the distinctive, but very English folk sounding vocals of Dawn McCarthy, this time Oldham's female counterpart is Ashley Webber who has a great twang to her, best exemplified on her lines in "You Want the Picture" in which she asks plaintively "O you want that picture don't you daahlin'"

The sound is less spacious and epic than on "The Letting Go" but, equally, a much richer-sounding recording than a number of Prince Billy releases (with prominent percussion, fiddle to the fore and organ and pedal steel providing colour). One of the tracks features an almost central European-sounding clarinet while "Keep Eye On Other's Gain has an Eastern feel reminiscent of Beck or Iron and Wine's latest album.

Despite the interest of the instrumentation, the first thing which struck me was how some of Oldham's lyrics call to mind Philip Larkin's in tone with the sudden shift from description to observational conclusion. Witness the matter of fact chorus of "You Want The Picture": "And everything comes down to this/That everything there ever was or will be/is all there is", the music echoing this with its shift between sprightly verses and apocalyptic chorus with crashing chords.

"Lie Down In the Light" is no classic but "merely" a very strong album overall, less ambitious but more consistent than "The Letting Go" and although sometimes relatively low key, thankfully shorn of fillers. Furthermore, it boasts a few songs which rank very highly in Oldham's illustrious catalogue, most noticeably "You remind me" which features spell-binding vocal interplay between Oldham and Webber , "You Want the Picture" the beautiful "Missing One" and "The Puzzle" leaving one with, in the words of Oldham himself, "good earthly music singing into my head."