(Domino)

Before he cast himself as Bonnie Prince Billy, Kentuckian alt-folk heartbreaker Will Oldham recorded several exquisite, distinguished long-players under the Palace moniker. After aeons in the hard-to-find wilderness, they will be re-released. Embrace them.

We can track Oldham’s creaturely, carnal aesthetic back to its gnarled roots via Palace. We can locate his agrarian lust for the hillside (‘The Mountain Low’ – from 1995’s Viva Last Blues). We can (re)consider his tale of highland incest (‘Riding’ – from 1993’s debut, There Is No One What Will Take Care of You). We can trace his poetic silhouette through Days in the Wake (1994), Hope (1994) and 1997 compilation, Lost Blues and Other Songs.

We can fall for his beautiful, ragged valediction, ‘Come In’, again. And again.