Product 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.

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: #6352 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

Customer Reviews

Dark Star
Where does the newcomer begin with the multi-faceted and multi-named world of Will Oldham? I decided to take the plunge with `I See A Darkness' and I was mighty glad that I did.

This is a tremendous CD from start to finish. The organ-driven opener,`A Minor Place', is one of those glorious tracks that you love on first listen but you never tire of with repeated hearings. Although the rest of the CD takes a little longer to get into, the quality does not dip throughout. The musical style is firmly alt-country, mostly keyboards and acoustic guitars, with a touch of electric here and there, most notably on `Song For the New Breed' where David Pajo takes the lead.

Oldham's voice is hardly strong in the conventional sense, but his slightly broken, quavering tones lend a real sense of emotional depth to his darkly skewed lyrical vision.

But the greatest thing about `I See A Darkness' is the melodic strength of the songs which is superb throughout. The songs get into your brain and don't let go. Make this CD part of your life, but be warned, you may find yourself singing some choice lines out loud at inappropriate moments: `The scars of last year's storm/rest like maggots on my arm' might not be appreciated in the office!

a light at the end of the tunnel
this album is breathtaking. i was lucky enough to find out about will oldam through him taking the picture on the front of the spiderland album, and this is a record of equal importance to music.
stripped down gitars, off beat rythems, and vocals. the vocals are the best. dark but inspireing.
this album is awesome.

A stunning album...
Though i'm not sure I would describe it as "joyous and life affirming". Definitely not one to listen to if you're feeling depressed...