Master and Everyone

As Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Will Oldham carries all the quiet reserve of a monastic priest, always searching for new ways to retell the same timeless folk song. Master and Everyone is a particularly hushed collection, so soft that you can actually hear Oldham’s foot tapping between his dueting harmonies on “Ain’t You Wealthy, Ain’t You Wise?”. The title track finds him both celebrating and mourning his liberation from a lover, articulating the bittersweet sense of freedom that makes Oldham’s work so enchanting.