Seanote
Mere weeks after the covers EP Ask Forgiveness Will Oldham unveiled Wai Notes without so much as a murmur of warning. A full-length collection of demos from 2007’s brilliant Then The Letting Go recorded with Faun Fables’ Dawn McCarthy Wai Notes sits alongside that album’s finished version as a worthwhile view into Oldham’s process from an altogether different set of angles.
Since the underwhelming yet pristine shine of Greatest Palace Music Oldham’s Bonnie “Prince” Billy output (in this case released under one of his favoured alternate spellings) most everything Oldham’s touched has come wrapped in gorgeous hi-fi. Compared to his earliest Palace days however Wai Notes plays like a long-lost field recording worthy of the Smithsonian. “I Called You Back” McCarthy’s gorgeous howl echoing in the background is here more a mournful prayer than The Letting Go ’s full-band shuffle. Stripped of its myriad strings “Cursed Sleep” is a perfect lonely cowboy campfire hymn (even given the finale’s demo slip-up).
There’s little doubt about Oldham’s supremacy as songwriter and enigmatic creative force. Wai Notes draws back the curtain at least a little bit further for a momentary glance at the birth of some of his best material.
