Review: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney - Superwolf

Drag City, 2005

Will Oldham, now monarch as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, and his collaboration with Matt Sweeney was first predicted as barely intriguing, though the result; Superwolf, proves otherwise.

The 11-track album is much like an eclectic mix of Damien Rice, Neil Young, and David Gray – poignant, delicate, and often beautiful.

Oldham, the mastermind of Palace music, brings the haunting lyrics and vocals to Superwolf; such as the sovereign’s killer opening line, “I have often said/That I would like be dead/In shark’s mouth” that begins My Home Is The Sea.

Matt Sweeney, formerly of Zwan and Chavez, adds often-sparse accompaniment to conclude the masterpiece. Subtle riffs move into convulsive progressions, as in Goat And Ram, before the harrowing 8-minute Blood Embrace and its simple, cascading guitar line reminisces Oldham’s dark side, quite like the circulating rhythm of Bowie’s Bring Me The Disco King.

The album rises and falls through moments of brilliance like What Are You; before reaching the simple, almost disturbing emotional climax of the finale I Gave You.

Lyrics like “I gave you a nightmare/And you didn’t chase it/I gave you a dream/And you only wake from it/Now I’ll never go to sleep again” prove Superwolf may be the coalition’s own Harvest.

- 4 Stars

(Originally Published in the Blue Mountains Gazette Review, March/April 2005)