The Purple Bird

The Purple Bird is a stunning effort from Oldham, a testament to his relentless artistry and how freely it allows him to roam.

It’s weathered, but in a beautiful way. An experience that only improves the more you nestle within its inviting, open corridors, it’s as memorable and kind-hearted as anything in Oldham’s catalogue.

The Purple Bird, recorded in Nashville, is one of his most committed forays into the genre — musically of a piece with the rich, twinkling chops of previous releases like Greatest Palace Music and The Best Troubadour.

The Purple Bird is reassuringly well-crafted and woodsy.

This is a Nashville record made by Oldham, still an insightful and mischievous operator. Alongside rueful singalongs like Boise, Idaho are tracks such as Guns Are for Cowards.

The record’s country-folk center allows for accessible tunes while delivered with great skill, so the whole big statement comes from and suits regular living. Bonnie Prince Billy might like to wander, but he sounds his best when he sounds at home, as he does here.

Executed with palpable warmth and affection for the musical heritage that hovers behind these songs, what could have been an unconvincingly superficial genre exercise emerges as another winningly inviting Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album.

The more collaborative approach this time around has led to a more fleshed-out sound than his early, more minimal work, but it still contains the usual Oldham magic.

The songs are often slow (Boise, Idaho and One Of These Days (I'm Gonna Spend The Night with You) are lovely), sometimes more upbeat (smile-inducing Tonight With The Dogs I'm Sleeping; waltz-time Guns Are For Cowards) occasionally Doomy (Is My Living In Vain?). and all backed by a rich ensemble of Nashville "cats". [Mar 2025, p.90]

The country accompaniments are elegant and often subtle, yet never dreary. [Jan 2025, p.102]

The Purple Bird is a consummate listen-through that makes highlights hard to pick but "Boise, Idaho", a yearning beauty with a fine arrangement and hints of Glen Campbell, is one. [Feb 2025, p.30]

The album puffs out its chest, and unabashedly so. Listening to it, you’ll feel a little urge to do the same: As Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Oldham sounds so in his element that, really, it’s hard not to join in the fun.

There’s a freewheeling spirit to the music they created together, a punchy camaraderie that connects these disparate songs from the agitpolka of “Guns Are for Cowards” to the Celtic dreamfolk of “Downstream,” and from the rambunctious ramble of “Turned to Dust (Rolling On)” to the despairing chorus of “Boise, Idaho” (which contains one of Oldham’s loveliest and most forlorn melodies).

It’s not a record that will dazzle anyone into any great epiphany, but while its on, you’ll be sure to find yourself charmed by the obvious sincerity of it all.