MRG Presale: April 16 @ 10:00 AM PT
Bonnie &ldquo\;Prince
&rdquo\; Billy
We Are Together Again
However dimly we
perceive it\, we are living through a change of worlds. The one we were b
orn into is slipping away\, reshaped and denuded by human action. What rem
ains is the question of what we will carry forward\, and the manner in whi
ch we refuse to surrender ourselves. Will Oldham&rsquo\;s new album\,
We Are Together Again\, feels like an answer to these questions. In O
ldham&rsquo\;s songs - and in the circle of others who&rsquo\;ve gathered
beneath the name Bonnie &ldquo\;Prince&rdquo\; Billy on this endeavor - fr
iendship\, community\, and the stubborn joy of making art with others beco
me a means of persistence. This isn&rsquo\;t to say that the record is a d
enial of collapse\, which would be delusion\, so much as that models defia
nce by remaining fully human\, fully joyful\, in a world with a diminishin
g horizon... I&rsquo\;m talking about Oldham&rsquo\;s record\, to be sure\
, but I think the answers he suggests \;in We Are Together Again speak to the only meaningful choices any of us can make at this point
in all of the agonizing everything. \;
You can hear i
t in &ldquo\;Life Is Scary Horses\,&rdquo\; when Oldham concedes\, &ld
quo\;The human times have come and gone. \; We must accept our rule is
done\, though love is sown and will live on. Come to me\, let me see your
eyes once more before the winter comes again.&rdquo\; The song modul
ates from minor to major in tone\, almost sunny. This could read as irony\
, but to my ear it&rsquo\;s something closer to grace. That&rsquo\;s the s
pirit running through We Are Together Again: not denial\, but fra
gile endurance and thankfulness for the moments we have.
&ldquo\;F
riend Named Joe&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Davey Dead&rdquo\; form the emotional
heart of the record. In the former\, Oldham sings &ldquo\;And when it
feels like life is just a series of delusions\, Joe can show that\, even t
hough it all feels like illusion\, it&rsquo\;s real\; and yesterday bears no resemblance to tomorrow. You fly tow
ards death so full of life and love and joy and sorrow.&rdquo\; And i
n the latter\, &ldquo\;If you destroy a child&rsquo\;s perspective\, here&
rsquo\;s what that child will do: be faced with unrelenting trial and rend
er terror back at you.&rdquo\; \;
The album begins and ends wi
th &ldquo\;Why is the Lion&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Bride of the Lion\,&rdquo\;
which serve as thesis and conclusion\, offering an invocation that seems
to float above the rest of the work: &ldquo\;Hope of something beginni
ng to rise from the floor of the ring&hellip\;is it my voice\, or\, better
yet\, ours?&rdquo\; A melody cleaning the world\, &ldquo\;scouri
ng the filth from the light.&rdquo\; That&rsquo\;s what the album sou
nds like: people trying\, not to fix anything\, but to keep the light clea
r long enough to recognize each other in it.
The feeling of commun
ity is earned honestly since We Are Together Again is as much as
gathering as a record or a statement. The studio becomes a meeting ground\
, a small republic of sound. Oldham&rsquo\;s friends\, colleagues and even
family&mdash\; including &mdash\; Tory Fisher\, Lacey Guthrie\, Katie Pea
body\, Catherine Irwin\, Sally Timms\, Maggie Halfman\, Nuala Kennedy\, Ne
d Oldham\, Thomas Deakin\, Jacob Duncan and Erin Hill \; - lend their
voices\, turning solitude into shared witness.
A sense of human be
auty runs through everything here. Each voice remains distinct\, yet folds
into something larger. We Are Together Again doesn&rsquo\;t reso
lve fear\; it meets it with harmony. It&rsquo\;s a record about the stubbo
rn miracle of accompaniment. It&rsquo\;s about how we keep asking\, and ho
w\, so long as there are voices to ask together\, the asking itself become
s a kind of hope. \; \;
Have an MRG Credit/Gift C
ard? Redeem for tickets \;HERE
Events at the Capital Ballroom may include strobe and other intense lighting effects. These can affect guests with photosens itive epilepsy or light sensitivity.
\n\nBoletos: https://admitone .com/events/victoria/pro/other/capital-ballroom/bonnie-prince-billy/bonnie -prince-billy/69d6da9b3abb90999b26f6bf URL;VALUE=URI:https://360exp.net/events/a482ac60-3618-4760-be74-f6c8afde41 fe END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR