Summer In The Southeast

Once upon a time, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy was called out for his morbidity. His songs were sad "sad" and his records were "heartbreaking". Well, now he has an album that'll break your nose too! Imagine the forceful clarity of the majestic 'Superwolf' [his last album] applied to his entire catalogue: vaporous guitars elevating frail backwoods ditties into tornadic Texan epics!

This is the world of 'Summer In The Southeast', a killer live album where The Bonnie One recreates seventeen B.P.B. classics tricked out in all-new threads - threads of silver, threads of pink, threads of bright blue velveteen... with the help of an all-star group of players, including Matt Sweeney and David Bird on guitar, Paul Oldham on bass and Pink Nasty on backing vocals.

Together with the audience, Bonnie and Co make these songs sing and soar as though they hadn't previously - which, they clearly did, but nowhere like this! Another word for the alchemy of this record is rock n' roll. Sure, he does a little balladeering as well and yes it's sensual and makes us cry, but this is an energetic album, summoning the power and potency of a fierce backing band.

While 'Summer In The Southeast' is ostensibly Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's first live album, it feels strangely familiar - perhaps that's because his best albums are as intimate and affecting as a cloistered club gig. Embrace the shambolic beauty…

"A delightfully drunken racket of tangled guitars and thunderous percussion."
- Pitchfork Media