Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s upcoming record, The Purple Bird, continues frontman Will Oldham’s love of collaboration, his adoration of musical companionship. He worked with a number of different songwriters on the songs comprising his latest album and developed a communal language suitable in its nuance to accurately support the stories he sought to share. One of those additional voices was Nashville legend and country music archivist John Anderson, a man whose history with music extends back some 50 years.
Today, we get a glimpse into that rhythmic lineage with “Downstream”, a duet between Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Anderson that focuses on the extraordinary ways in which their voices intertwine and reflect off one another. The plucks of the acoustic guitar sound like a gift while the shambling percussion aids in our casual stride. Mournful strings wander from end to end, persuasive and hypnotic in their beauty. As the song moves along its fluid path, the constraints of time begin to waiver, and we lose track of anything but the sounds of two men hoping that someone might listen before it’s too late.
“One of my favorite recorded John Anderson performances is a duet he sang with Merle Haggard called “The Winds of Change” on Merle’s 1996 record,” Oldham says. “It’s a minor-key ballad about climate change and over-development, the compromise of our environment’s integrity at the hands of humans. ‘Downstream’, though in a major key, hits on the same ideas. I don’t know how to explain how it felt to witness this master of song bring, beautifully and humbly, his experience and expertise to bear on this little recording we were making. Anderson’s singing on the final verse has weight in it, and concern, and love.“
Listen to the song below.
The Purple Bird is due out Jan 31 via Domino/No Quarter. Pre-order the album here. Follow Oldham on X and Instagram.
