THIS IS A POST ABOUT WILL OLDHAM

While I would never pretend to be a Will Oldham stan, I can say with certitude that he is one of the most revelatory and brilliant singer-songwriters (what a disgusting tag that is) working today. To listen to a Will Oldham production is to give yourself up to his mastery of songcraft and dense lyrical allusion and depth. His most recent album, Lie Down in the Light was an interesting turn, a considerably lighter affair than his last proper record, The Letting Go. But get ready dudes, he's unleashing the beard on this next one.

"Oh no, the bracelet doesn't come off. Now- the lotion. Give it to me."

In his recent profile in The New Yorker, and after that on p4k and assorted other intranets tastemakers, Oldham has referred to the fact that his upcoming venture Beware is the "big record" to match Lie Down in the Light, a "little record". This apparently is indicative of a increased publicity push, and judging from the first song released from the record, on WYNC's Soundcheck, a slightly more traditional Oldham seriousness. In addition to this, the cover is completely business oriented-- somehow even more frightening than I See a Darkness (which featured a fuckin' skull).

Please...Help...Moustache consuming...everything.

And if there are any Neil Young fans out there, you may have noticed something.

Not too dissimilar, yeah? One can only hope than Oldham is pulling a Lil' Wayne, and using the cover as an indicator that this is his game changer, an album to redefine his career and put him forever in the pantheon of greats (Unfortunately, Wayne didn't pull it off, which people will realize as soon as they wake up and pull their heads out of their asses). Alternatively, our boy is about to drop an album of stunning bleakness and mind-boggling grief (which is logical, considering that in the realm of Will Oldham material, Lie down in the Light is as similar as he's ever going to get to Harvest [okay stans, back off. Although On the Beach is the actual precedent to Tonight's the Night, it was recorded after, which makes Harvest the precedent in terms of artistic growth and progression. Bite me]). Whatever the case, the song on Soundcheck makes a strong case for this to be Oldham's best record in quite some time.

Beware comes out on March 17th on Drag City.