| Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 11, 2023 | |||
| Length | 45:57 | |||
| Label | Drag City | |||
| Bonnie "Prince" Billy chronology | ||||
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Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You is the twenty-first studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the stage name of American indie folk musician Will Oldham. It was released on August 11, 2023, through Drag City. The album was recorded in Will's home in Louisville, Kentucky, and preceded by the lead single "Bananas". [1]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100 [2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Exclaim! | 7/10 [4] |
| Loud and Quiet | 8/10 [5] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [6] |
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You received a score of 84 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on seven critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [2]
Reviewing for the album for AllMusic, Fred Thomas called it, "the kind of record that gets played over and over until it feels like a part of the listener's personal history" [3] Mojo noted that it contains "a spare, homespun feel with its simple folk guitar", while Uncut deemed it "an open, compassionate record with a fierce spirit". [2]
Marko Djurdjic of Exclaim! remarked that "the music throughout is unsurprisingly eclectic, with flourishes of country and flamenco, balladry and folk, and Oldham is backed by a more-than-competent band", also describing it as "a private album for mourning the state of the world and ourselves in it". [4] Leo Lawton of Loud and Quiet concluded that "this record stands out because of its incredible thematic range. Such a well-rounded piece of work could only have been made by Bonnie Prince Billy himself, who has clearly lived life through his own fascinating, emotionally charged subjectivity". [5]
All tracks are written by Will Oldham
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Like It or Not" | 5:08 |
| 2. | "Behold! Be Held!" | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Bananas" | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Blood of the Wine" | 4:24 |
| 5. | "Sing Them Down Together" | 2:14 |
| 6. | "Kentucky Is Water" | 4:06 |
| 7. | "Willow, Pine and Oak" | 3:44 |
| 8. | "Trees of Hell" | 4:00 |
| 9. | "Rise and Rule (She Was Born in Honolulu)" | 6:05 |
| 10. | "Queens of Sorrow" | 3:06 |
| 11. | "Crazy Blue Bells" | 4:28 |
| 12. | "Good Morning, Popocatépeti" | 2:34 |
| Total length: | 45:57 | |
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [7] | 141 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [8] | 62 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [9] | 18 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [10] | 92 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC) [11] | 40 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [12] | 7 |
Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.
I See a Darkness is the sixth album by American musician Will Oldham, released on Palace Records on January 19, 1999, as the first album under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The album features appearances from Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, Paul Oldham, David Pajo, and Peter Townsend.
Superwolf is a 2005 collaborative studio album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney. It was released on Drag City.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music is a 2004 studio album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It features new recordings of songs from his Palace Music era (1993–1997), recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with a large group of country session musicians. Guest musicians include Eddie Bayers, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Mike Johnson, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Andrew Bird and Bruce Watkins.
Master and Everyone is a 2003 studio album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It was released on Drag City.
Ease Down the Road is the seventh studio album by American musician Will Oldham, and the second under his moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It was released on Palace Records on March 19, 2001.
This is a list of recordings by Will Oldham.
The Brave and the Bold is a 2006 collaborative studio album by Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It was released on Overcoat Recordings. It consists of interpretations of ten songs originally by a wide range of musicians.
The Letting Go is a 2006 studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It was released on Drag City.
Lie Down in the Light is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the moniker Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2008.
Beware is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the moniker Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2009.
Broken is the third full-length studio album by British electronic music production duo Soulsavers, and their second album predominantly featuring Mark Lanegan as lead vocalist. The album was released by V2 and Cooperative Music in the UK on 17 August 2009, and released by Columbia Records in the US in September 2009 as a digital download.
The Wonder Show of the World is a collaborative studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang. It was released on Drag City in 2010.
Wolfroy Goes to Town is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2011.
The Marble Downs is an album by the Trembling Bells and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. The album was released in 2012 by Honest Jon's Records in the UK. The album features vocals by Lavinia Blackwall of the Trembling Bells and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.
What the Brothers Sang is an album by Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. The album was released on February 19, 2013. The album features covers of songs that appeared on albums by The Everly Brothers. The duo preceded this album with the "Christmas Eve Can Kill You" 7" single in late 2012, also featuring two covers of songs earlier performed by the Everlys. What the Brothers Sang was the first of three major albums released in 2013 to feature Everly Brothers covers in their entirety, the second being A Date with the Everly Brothers by the Chapin Sisters and the third being Foreverly by Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones.
Divers is the fourth studio album by American musician Joanna Newsom, released on October 23, 2015 via Drag City.
The Thread That Keeps Us is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Calexico. It was released on January 26, 2018, under Anti-.
I Made a Place is a 2019 album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the stage name of American indie folk musician Will Oldham. It was released to positive critical reception.
Blind Date Party is a collaborative studio album by Bill Callahan and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, released on December 10, 2021, via Drag City. The project consists of covers of other artists' songs, many of which are from the duo's Drag City labelmates.