In December, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy announced his new album ‘The Purple Bird’, out on January 31st (Domino/No Quarter). Throughout, he calls upon an impressive ensemble of A-listers; we’ve already heard the likes of Tim O’Brien on the lead single ‘Our Home‘ and London May on the second single. Today he reveals a third, featuring Nashville legend John Anderson, who was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. As well as featuring on the track, Anderson also helped co-write the eco-ballad “Downstream”.
Oldham says of the collaboration: “One of my favorite recorded John Anderson performances is a duet he sang with Merle Haggard called “The Winds of Change” on Merle’s 1996 record. It’s a minor-key ballad about climate change and over-development, the compromise of our environment’s integrity at the hands of humans. “Downstream”, though in a major key, hits on the same ideas. I don’t know how to explain how it felt to witness this master of song bring, beautifully and humbly, his experience and expertise to bear on this little recording we were making. Anderson’s singing on the final verse has weight in it, and concern, and love.”
The accompanying video, made by Michael Cullen, depicts images and lyrics written on flotsam heading down a stream that looks lifeless and polluted. With Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Eamon Dillon on uillean pipe and whistles (with some great additional vocals from Brit Taylor), the song has a strong Celtic air that wouldn’t be out of place on a Transatlantic Session. More importantly, the song offers a strong reality check on human responsibility in tackling pollution…the fact that PFAS are not banned outright is proof we’ve a long way to go yet (more on below).
This isn’t the first environmental song from Oldham. Kentucky Is Water was described in these pages as one of the most affecting things Oldham has written to date, a title also used by Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA). As well as sporting their merch to help make people aware of their work, Oldham also performed at their 30th anniversary celebrations in 2023, alongside Joan Shelley and others. Among many other issues, KWA have also highlighted the prevalence of and health impacts of forever chemicals like PFAS which are synthetic chemicals used in many everyday products (including food wrappers, stain resistant treatments on clothing and more) and have been since the 1940s. These ‘forever chemicals’, take so long to break down that they pollute rivers and soils, and we consume them as they enter our food chain.
The Purple Bird was made in Nashville with producer Dave Ferguson, and is out January 31st. Bonnie “Prince” Billy will embark on a California tour upon its release. Ferguson will open all of the shows:
February 7th @ Vet’s Hall – Santa Cruz, CA
February 8th @ Grace Cathedral – San Francisco, CA
February 9th @ Center for the Arts – Grass Valley, CA
February 10th @ Sebastiani Theatre – Sonoma, CA
February 12th @ Topa Bowl – Ojai, CA
February 14th @ Pico Union Project – Los Angeles, CA
Today Bonnie “Prince” Billy also announces a string of European dates for May. Tickets on sale 9th Jan @ 10am GMT / 11am CET from here. Full list of dates below:
May 10th @ Het Depot – Leuven, BE
May 11th @ Arenberg – Antwerp, BE
May 12th @ Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NL
May 13th @ Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
May 15th @ Wilde Westen – Kortijk, BE
May 17th @ Stereolux – Nantes, FR
May 18th @ La Cigale – Paris, FR
Tickets
The Purple Bird – Pre-order: DomMart | Digital