Bonnie “Prince” Billy Announces New Album ‘The Purple Bird’, Shares New Single

Bonnie “Prince” Billy has announced a new album called The Purple Bird, which will be released on January 31 via Domino. The follow-up to last year’s Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You was made in Nashville with producer David “Ferg” Ferguson and includes songwriting contributions from John Anderson, Ronnie Bowman, Pat McLaughlin, Tommy Prine, and Roger Cook, among others. The first single, ‘Our Home’, features Grammy-winning mandolinist Tim O’Brien. Check it out and find the album cover and tracklist below.

Will Oldham’s relationship with Ferg dates back to the sessions for Johnny Cash’s 2000 album American III, which included a cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s classic ‘I See A Darkness’, and for which Ferg served as engineer. The Purple Bird also takes its name from a drawing Ferg made as a second-grader.

“I’ve made records with friends, collaborative records like The Brave and the Bold with Tortoise; the two Superwolf records with Matt Sweeney; The Wonder Show of the World with Emmett Kelly; Get on Jolly with Mick Turner,” Oldham said in a statement. “These collaborators get top billing because that’s how this business works. This record, The Purple Bird, is similarly a collaborative effort but the collaborator is the producer, David Ferguson. He’s a giant of a man, an epic musical force, a dear friend. Our work together on this record was the result of years of sharing hard times and great joys, songs and stories, of making music together and apart. There’s a lot of trust in this record on Ferg’s part and on mine, and the trust was hard- and well-earned. When I listen to the record, oftentimes I can’t help but laugh in wonder that life allowed me to participate in such a thing.”

The Purple Bird also features Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Russ Pahl on electric guitar, Pat McLaughlin on mandolin, Steve Mackey on bass, Fred Eltringham on drums, and Brit Taylor and Adam Chaffin on backing vocals.

The Purple Bird Cover Artwork:

The Purple Bird Tracklist:

1. Turned to Dust (Rolling On)
2. London May
3. Tonight With the Dogs I’m Sleeping
4. Boise, Idaho
5. The Water’s Fine
6. Sometimes It’s Hard to Breathe
7. New Water
8. Guns Are For Cowards
9. Downstream
10. One of These Days (I’m Gonna Spend the Whole Night With You)
11. Is My Living In Vain?
12. Our Home

Konstantinos Pappis
Konstantinos Pappis
Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.
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