Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 27/01/2003
Label: Domino Records

Flitting between aliases for a decade now, this is Will Oldham's third outing as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Since his first releases as Palace Brothers he has studiously honed out a genre all his own - a sort of gospel hillbilly confessional that should be too personalised and antiquated for the modern world and yet, paradoxically, is never less than affecting and human. It's a trick he has performed ceaselessly, whether backed by a full band or standing alone - always the same, always different, always remarkable. 'Master And Everyone' is no different.

If anything, this could be Oldham's most accessible album. Certainly, there is an English folk lushness to opening track 'The Way' - Fairport Convention's 'Liege And Lief' was apparently an influence - and hints of Nick Drake circa 'Pink Moon' on the title track. Oldham's voice, once as creaky as a barn door, is now smooth as antique wood, retaining a stately grandeur and nobility. Listening to it is like hearing a sleeper's dream upon waking - a measured stream of consciousness where every word seems considered, important and provoking.

He is aided in this department by veteran Nashville vocalist Marty Slayton, and the production work of Lambchop associate Mark Nevers, both of whom add a ghostly ambience to songs like 'Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise' and 'Even In Love' where strange electronics bubble beneath the acoustics before fading away.

The usual obsessions of love, faithfulness and desires still preoccupy, with Oldham seeing himself as a wolf among wolves, a lone and selfish creature forever battling with his own humanity. "Wake up and I'm fine, with my dreaming still on my mind. But it don't take long you see, for the demons to come and visit me. And I've got my problems, sometimes love don't solve them, and I end each day in a song", he sings finally on 'Hard Times'. For the Bonnie Prince it's business as usual and then some. 'Master And Everyone' is a distillation of quiet perfection. A beautiful, beautiful record.

    by Adam Webb