-20120304202745.jpg "i see a darkness album")
Steve Adey also covered the title track on his 2006 album All Things Real. Johnny Cash recorded the titular track on his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man, with Oldham providing background vocals. Q cited the album as "his masterpiece, ushering in a direct and less mythic style of songwriting". Reviewing its 2012 reissue, Aaron Lavery of Drowned in Sound called I See a Darkness Oldham's "finest achievement thus far" and the "essential release" in his discography. In 2002, Matt LeMay of Stylus Magazine wrote that "by addressing concepts so grand with such sincerity and skill, the album is incredibly powerful under even the most mundane of circumstances". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2004, Stylus Magazine placed I See a Darkness at number 171 on its list of the 200 best albums of all time, while in 2006, Mojo deemed it a "modern classic" and the twentieth best album released during the magazine's lifetime. Pitchfork ranked it the ninth best album of the 1990s.
I See a Darkness has been ranked in several publications' lists of best albums. Simon Williams of NME was more reserved in his praise of the album, advising listeners that "patience is a virtue" while nonetheless calling it a "delicate, intelligent record". Club's Stephen Thompson remarked that I See a Darkness was the "most appropriate synthesis yet of Oldham's vocals and backing band". Gregg Rounds of AllMusic wrote that it showcased "a more melodic style than the veteran Palace listener might be used to", while at the same time noting that Oldham "hasn't abandoned his foundation of mordant lyrics and minimalist arrangements, but he has built a variety of different layers that make this album an emotional and pleasurable listening experience". Samir Khan of Pitchfork described the album as Oldham's "consummate offering" and the "type of record that demands solitary reverence". I See a Darkness received generally positive reviews from music critics.
#I SEE A DARKNESS ALBUM PROFESSIONAL#
Its impact on the sound and style of Oldham’s peers was both immediate (including Björk, Cat Power, Wilco) and lasting (Songs: Ohia, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, Father John Misty), ushering in an era of albums that strived toward similarly unadorned production, casual eroticism, and visceral intensity.Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Within independent rock, I See a Darkness was a paradigm-shifting album, the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan of its era, with Oldham’s peculiar and publicity-averse now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t persona making him nearly as enigmatic. For all of the anxiousness and fear he voices on Darkness, Oldham got indie-rock songwriting out of its own head and lowered it down into the rest of the body with lyrics that were sometimes comically ribald (the itemized “buttock” of “Nomadic Revery ”) or explicitly sexual (“Knockturne”).
The recurring, doomy theme of death’s inevitability is woven with lighter scenes of earthly connection: professions of love, of brotherly bond, by an invitation to get under someone’s dress (“Death to Everyone”). Darkness fused do-it-yourself indie rock and the American country folk-blues idiom with lyrics that are as spiritually raw as they are wry, all in a voice that was ragged, boyish, and tremulous.ĭrawing from the vintage work of Merle Haggard, The Louvin Brothers, and modern R&B, the songs are mordant (“I See a Darkness”), eerie, corporeal, and sensual (“The scars of last year’s storm/Rest like maggots on my arm,” he sings on “A Minor Place”). I See a Darkness was lauded by critics, fans, and, notably, many other artists within a year of the album’s release, Johnny Cash would record a cover of the title track with Oldham singing backup, cementing his graduation from underground phenomenon to master of contemporary American songwriting. Unceremonious in its sound, the album is a natural continuation of Oldham’s previous work as Palace Brothers and Palace Music-yet it was the most powerful and perfected realization of his songwriting to date. I See a Darkness marked the debut of Will Oldham’s Bonnie “Prince” Billy nom de rock, which in the two decades since has become his primary moniker.
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