Once again, Bonnie “Prince” Billy can see a darkness. His new record We Are Together Again deals – as the accompanying announcement explains – with a “world with a diminishing horizon”, the result of human action which has reshaped the planet and pushed it towards collapse. But where Will Oldham has a long record for writing songs of desolation, this new collection sets out to face down fear and respond with the strength of friendship and community as a source of hope.
The message is stark. On ‘Life is Scary Horses’ – described as a “spiritual cover” of Sally Timms’ and Jon Langford’s ‘Horses’ and which features Timms on vocals – Oldham sings: “The human times have come and gone/We must accept our rule is done”. On ‘Strange Trouble’ he sings “Change tastes like trouble and trouble tastes like change”. But Oldham is not here to wallow in worry.
The album is bookended by ‘Why is the Lion?’ and ‘Bride of the Lion’ – two interconnected songs which find love to be the counterbalance to fear. ‘Vietnam Sunshine’ – with flourishes provided by Sara Louise Callaway’s violin – is as bright as its name suggests, while ‘Everybody’s Got A) Friend Named Joe’ is perhaps the most immediate of the songs here but also carries a serious message about the importance of relationships.
Oldham began work on these 10 songs before he had recorded last year’s The Purple Bird but this is a departure from that country-tinged album put together in Nashville. Decamping to Louisville, Oldham worked with local musicians who act as the sort of community in which he believes hope lives. Together they have created an intimate, often raw, record that offers light in worrying times.