Buzzin Music Blog

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Is it the Sea?

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Is it the Sea? – album review

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, now the most regular moniker of Will Oldham, has released recordings from his Spring 2006 tour of Scotland and Ireland (…and Newcastle) on his new live album ‘Is it the Sea?’. This BBC recording captures the remarkably honest and clear performances, done with the aid of Scottish traditional folkstars Harem Scarem and Alex Neilson.

I have not bought a live album for a fair few years as I tend to find them unsatisfying in that you are neither listening to definitive versions of the songs nor experiencing the live spectacle. It’s a halfway-house that rarely fails to disappoint.

Saying this, however, writes off a lot of great songs whose definitive versions are the live versions – Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’ is the most obvious example. Normally, it is the crowd that makes these recordings, but on Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s latest release there is not a whisper from the audience during the songs. All the same, this remains a successful live album.

This is because Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s powerful songs are transformed to fit the Scottish folk landscape, and become both successful performances and explorations of the relation between song and surrounding. The fiddle on songs like ‘Cursed Sleep’ and ‘Minor Place’ and the seven minute version of ‘Molly Bawn’ helps to place his songs firmly in the Caledonian tradition, and this lends the whole recording a sense of place that most live recordings lack.

But it is not just the accompaniment that has changed on “Is it the Sea?”. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s melodies are also varied from the originals, at times successfully and at times bizarrely.

The most striking thing from this live recording though is the atmosphere, something that is hard to capture on most live albums. There is something haunting, magical and moving in the recording.

The sheer length and euphoric emotion on tracks like “My Home Is The Sea” and the rearrangement of “Master and Everyone” to include the hushed female vocals singing a-cappella: “You do what you want /And I will do what I want” make this recording a positive and artistically worthy addition to Will Oldham’s extensive back catalogue.

‘Is it the Sea?’ by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is out now on CD, heavyweight double vinyl and digital download through Domino Records.