[Drag City, 2009]
The brooding face of a middle-aged man stares out from the cover of Beware. Will Oldham, under his many monikers, has been producing albums of almost uniform quality since the early 90s, with the odd flash of utter greatness (I See a Darkness, his 1999 release, is a shoo-in to be in the top 5 albums of that decade). However, his previous album Lie Down in the Light was a disappointment, without being genuinely bad. Lazy songwriting and a distinct lack of decent tunes, coupled with a marked turn towards that much-maligned genre, country, compromised Will Oldham’s undisputed talents. It also featured one of the worst album covers ever – it appeared to have been scrawled by a pretentious toddler. Beware was Oldham’s biggest album in a very long time, with a great deal of press coverage, and he had to make amends.
He has done, to a certain extent. The country flavours are still very much present, although not as stark and unwelcome in the context of much better-written songs. Oldham’s lyrics are yet to return to their mid-90s peak, but they are still very serviceable, with songs that seem to be trying to impart advice to his listeners, a natural progression for an aging songwriter. He seems to be recognising that he is now one of the ‘wise old men’ of the American indie scene, despite the fact he is still in his 30s. Beware is fairly pleasant, but too many of the songs just drift by without any moments of real interest. Each song seems to be built round a single idea, relying on far too much improvisation for a writer of Oldham’s calibre. He should think about cutting down his amazing productivity and start putting genuine work into his songs, and then he might come up with more albums that fulfil his potential to be one of the best songwriters around.
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