Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Beware

A A A Comments By Nicholas L. Hall Wednesday, Jun 3 2009

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With the Howling Hex, 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at Walter's on Washington, 4215 Washington, 713-862-2513 or www.superunison.com.

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Will Oldham

Beware isn't nearly as ominous as Will Oldham might want you to believe. Although its 13 tracks do gravitate toward themes of disappointment and disillusionment, it's with panache and, not infrequently, a bit of levity. Take, for example, "You Don't Love Me." With its zippy strings, hand claps and a bright melody handled by Oldham and a vocal chorus, it's remarkably upbeat to bear such a title. The lyrics continue the incongruity, showing a relationship filled at once with callousness and tenderness: "You don't love me / But that's alright/ 'Cause you cling to me / All through the night." On "I Don't Belong to Anyone," Oldham looks to the bright side of loneliness, noting (amid plaintive steel guitar and mandolin) that "It's kind of easy to have your fun / When you don't belong to anyone." The only real cautionary tale here is, appropriately enough, opener "Beware Your Only Friend." On this fiddle-spiked, gospel-chorused number, Oldham sings of the dangers of love and closeness, saying of his desires, "Watch out for these silent thoughts / That's where the seed of soul-sucking grows." Maybe his true warning offered here is that things are so often not what they seem.

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