Will Oldham - Seafarers Music
(Drag City)
Simple and to the point, Will Oldham's newest release is a soundtrack to a documentary about four sailors. This subject isn't foreign to Will's musical focus. In playing with Boxhead Ensemble he helped to score a soundtrack to a documentary of similar content, Dutch Harbor. Also, a few years ago he did another soundtrack, Ode Music. Which was, to be blunt, his worst release. Stunted and seemingly carelessly made, Ode Music is a difficult and annoying meditation of various themes on an acoustic guitar.
Seafarers Music is also a meditation of separate themes on acoustic guitar (well, some electric too, but whatever). But, in no way is this difficult or annoying. Now that Dave Pajo has moved away from lyrically instrumental guitar music, Will seems to have decided to gather up all of the elements that Dave employed and make a beautifully delicate and intriguing display of simple guitar parts laid on top of one another. The four themes ("Sapele", "Lars", "Bogo", and "Emmanuel") are named after each of the four sailors. The mood between them differs little—subtle, brooding and calm.
Will has hit a real hot streak, with his last two being among his best full lengths, the incredible Forest Time 10", and now this jaw-dropping soundtrack. Then again, for a man with so many amazing releases in his past, it's getting hard to find descriptive superlatives.
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