The songs of Will Oldham have
been written most often for the aliases of
Palace or Bonny. Their identities, kept
necessarily separate from Will's, has
allowed them to bring to the stage the
reach needed to project to everyone in
the room, to everyone outside the room,
to whomever chose to make the audience.
The songs were written to create a singular
encounter, to be shared among those who
choose to listen.
Songs of Love and Horror is a rare
entry in this oeuvre: a Will Oldham
album, with the writer taking a turn as
singer. As befits the nature of this project,
the songs are sung and played by Will
alone, in a setting enjoyed by fans of his
music-that of one voice and one guitar,
the better to savor the spare changes and
starkly-cut lyrics, operating in quiet tension
and ultimate collaboration. Will brings
to the songs all that he has learned from
his stagecrafting fellows over the years,
singing new versions that quiver like fresh
young things in the air of today.
