OLDHAM ON OLDHAM…
DURING the eight years between albums of new songs, Oldham recorded a series of covers LPS that not only allowed him to study the craft of other songwriters but to test them out on streaming platforms. “These songs already had a life of their own. The digital world couldn’t destroy them.”
CHIVALROUS AMOEKONS FANATIC VOYAGE (2016)
Oldham has been a fan of the Mekons since he was a teenager, and one of his first Palace singles was an ode to the legendary punk band. He put together this covers band with members of his touring outfit, including Angel Olsen and The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly. The sole purpose was to “share the joy of the Mekons and pay active tribute to such an inspirational conglomerate of human beings”.
BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY BEST TROUBADOUR (2017)
A year later, the Chivalrous Amoekons morphed into a Merle Haggard tribute act. “This was specifically paying tribute to somebody who was the rare example of an imposing artist who was getting better into his fifties and sixties and even seventies. And yet, even most of his hardcore fanbase was not aware of it, because they loved his great older songs so much. Part of me was wondering what motivated him to get better and continue to develop his voice. How did he make space in his life to be open to new inspirations?”
BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY WOLF OF THE COSMOS (2017)
Oldham became obsessed with the album Wolf Of The Cosmos by the Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanna Wallumrød, to the point where he felt a strong urge to explore these songs and learn their secrets. “That record has a power over me. I understand it better now, but at the time I needed to get inside of it and figure it out. They’re such enigmatic songs; the lyrics can be repetitive, even simple, yet they hint at so much.”
WILL OLDHAM SONGS OF LOVE AND HORROR (2018)
Released to coincide with the publication of his book of lyrics bearing the same title, Songs Of Love And Horror is only the second album actually credited to Will Oldham, and it may be as close to a greatest-hits compilation as he’ll ever get. “I wanted to be a better singer,” he writes in the book’s introduction. “I wanted to be the greatest singer.” These new interpretations of songs spanning his long career reveal an artist making great strides towards that lofty goal.