BY: JOEY REAMS
Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney are back together again to announce a California tour for their upcoming sophomore album, Superwolves, due April 30 (digitally) and June 18 (physically) via Drag City. This album follows their 2005 debut album Superwolf. The announcement came with the release of a new single, “Hall of Death.” The two have released another single, “My Blue Suit,” along with a music video for it, directed by Geoff McFetridge.
“I started this video by painting,” McFetridge said in a statement. “The work I created, in response to the song, was large-scale figures I could use in scenes filmed on camera. All the images in the film are done in-camera, there are no digital effects. The graphic sequences were done with paintings wrapped around a garbage can placed on a Techniques 1200 turntable. The tools used to create the effects were knives, glue, paint, and tape.”
Sweeney and Billy are hitting the road in 2021, with four concerts planned in California in June. Here are all the dates so far:
06-07 Big Sur, CA – Henry Miller Memorial Library
06-08 Big Sur, CA – Henry Miller Memorial Library
06-10 Sonoma, CA – Gundlach Bundschu Winery
06-13 Malibu, CA – Dry Gulch Ranch
Matt Sweeney is an American guitarist, singer, and producer from New Jersey who first got started in the music scene in 1989. Sweeney’s high school band Skunk released two albums on Twin/Tone Records. He is also known as a member of Chavez, supergroup Zwan and has helped produce songs for many other artists. Sweeney’s last helped Run the Jewels with instrumentals in RTJ4 and helped produce “Optimisme” by Songhoy Blues, both in 2020.
“I love the challenge to write melodies for Will to sing,” Sweeney said about their recent collaboration. “Struggle with that challenge too. Knowing that Will’s voice will elevate the melody makes me reach higher and dig deeper for the tune. Makes me want to match it with a guitar part that holds his voice like a chalice holds wine (or blood, or whatever is needed to live the best life). I also love singing harmonies and responses to this voice of his.”
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, born Joseph Will Oldham, is an American singer-songwriter from Kentucky who also acts. Starting in 1993, Oldham began performing as variations of “Palace,” such as Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Songs, etc. In 1997, Oldham released Joya under his name before permanently landing on Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Oldham has released over 20 studio albums throughout his career, with Superwolves being his 24th.
“The chemistry comes from lives, lived separately, in which music is crucial sustenance,” Bonnie “Prince” Billy said in a statement. “We listen with gratitude and awe, knowing that we belong in there. We construct our dream selves with the faith that these selves will have their chance at life. We know what we are capable of doing and just need each other’s support to bring the imagined languages to life.”
Together, the two create a wonderful indie duo with music that feels like it should be listened to at the peak of autumn. In 2020, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney shared “You’ll Get Eaten, Too” “Make Worry for Me,” and a cover of Hank Williams, Jr.’s “O.D.’d in Denver.” “Make Worry for Me” will appear on Superwolves. Here is the full tracklist:
Superwolves:
01 Make Worry for Me
02 Good to My Girls
03 God Is Waiting
04 Hall of Death
05 Shorty’s Ark
06 I Am a Youth Inclined to Ramble
07 My Popsicle
08 Watch What Happens
09 Resist the Urge
10 There Must Be a Someone
11 My Blue Suit
12 My Body Is My Own
13 You Can Regret What You Have Done
14 Not Fooling