Oldham goes poetic on latest

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (aka Will Oldham) wants to know what love is. "What is love?" one might ask. Well, according to Oldham, it's acoustic guitars and funereal singing. Though the spare sound might recall Beck's latest record without all the electronic gizmos and grandiose string sections, Oldham has been an introspective guy for years. Through his days with Palace, variations and the recordings done under his birth name, he's been searching for his soul while trying not to get in your way too much. Unfortunately, on his latest release Master and Everyone, he has followed Beck down the road of referring to love as a vague cliche. "And even if love were not what I wanted/love would make love the thing most desired," he sings. Prose writers from Robert Frost to Bob Dylan will say geography is essential to painting a picture with words. Fortunately for Oldham, he is a master songwriter and knows how to sound pretty away from the microscope. Master and Everyone will be one of those records to put on the turner when nights of gentle love-making and caressing your baby are in order.