Will Oldham
is one of the better-regarded songwriters of his generation, but in recent years he's taken up a sideline as an interpretive vocalist. As
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
,
Oldham
recorded an album of songs associated with
the Everly Brothers
What the Brothers Sang
, with
Dawn McCarthy
in 2013, and on 2017's
Best Troubador
, he covered 15 numbers from the
Merle Haggard
songbook. For 2018's
Wolf of the Cosmos
has chosen not to cover a handful of songs, but an entire album: here, he interprets all 12 songs from
Susanna
's 2007 release
Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos
, in their original sequence. It's anyone's guess what prompted
to offer his own take on someone else's album in toto, but
manages to pay homage to
Susanna Wallumrod
's vision while making room for
's very distinct musical outlook. The original performances on
were deliberately spare, often suggesting the presence of only one or two instruments accompanying
's vocals, and while there's more varied instrumentation here, the arrangements are whisper quiet, with the clink of
Chris Rodahaffer
's banjo and the sigh of
Cheyenne Mize
's violin sounding almost spectral next to the thoughtful murmur of
's vocals.
may not have written these tunes, but they fit him beautifully.
Wallumrod
's wordplay feels perfectly natural filtered through
's instrument, and his vocals find him at the top of his game, delivering performances that are at once introspective and deeply felt, finding a wealth of emotion in the simplicity of his approach.
's willfully cryptic manner has largely been set aside on these sessions, and there's a sincerity in this work that he doesn't always allow himself when tackling his own songs (though the lyric sheet translates the songs into Korean, just in case you feared he'd abandoned all his eccentricities).
may call into question the status of
as a songwriter, but it shows that as a performer,
is doing some of the finest work of his career. ~ Mark Deming