Lie Down In the Light

Will Oldham (nee Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) is no stranger to musical eccentricity, nor to bursts of emotional nakedness lesser men might find embarrassing. Lie Down in the Light finds our hero feeling more at ease; a hopeful outlook has replaced a bleaker view. The memorable “Easy Does It” has all the charm and lilting melody of a summery kid’s song, with a rather Grateful Dead-ish spirit infusing the swirling violins and jangly guitars. The fiddles are in a darker Americana vein on “You Remind Me of Something,” although the song moves in and out of the light with lyrics like,  “you remind me of something, a song that I am / and you sing me back into myself.” Of course, there are a few classic Oldham moments, and by far the most moving is one of three very strong opening tracks, “So Everyone,” an expression of boyish sexual desire and boastfulness with a powerful emotional core. There’s a musical maturity here, as if Oldham has grown into the artist he’s been striving to be all these years. Lie Down is lush with woodwinds, pedal steel, piano, banjos and even jangling bells, and most every moment feels like a natural fit.  Oldham’s foray into ‘60s psych-folk works well on several tracks, but his affinity for honest, simple, Appalachian-rooted music is as strong as ever.