I See a Darkness is one of the darkest albums I own, if not the darkest. And I mean that in a good way - it's also one of my all-time favourites. It says a lot about an album that even when Johnny Cash covered the title-track on his death-bed, he couldn't even come near how dark the original is.
One of the things I love most about I See a Darkness is that it was by complete chance that it became the first Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album I heard/bought. I'd heard one of his songs, thought it was nice and picked up the Cold and Wet 7" in my local HMV. Five days later I was in Brighton and wandered into Resident Records on the Lanes (I had to check why I was there, but it was because I was going to see Peeping Tom in London that weekend and decided to visit my friends at uni in Brighton - after you've travelled from Lancaster, Brighton isn't that much further than London). I'd played my 7" at most a few times but decided then would be a good time to buy a Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album; they had a bunch to choose from and they were all between £7 and £10 (on cd).
This is where the brilliant chance happened, because I knew nothing about any of his albums (this was, of course, prior to the days of checking reviews on one's smartphone in the shop) and ended up choosing what is generally considered to be his finest work (a thought reinforced by the huge cheer that went up when he started to play I See a Darkness in Shepherd's Bush Empire a few years back). I've since bought a lot of his other albums under the various names William Oldham has worked, and none of them have been anywhere near as good. I'm missing a few still, but I wonder how things would have panned out had I bought the dubious Sings Palace's Greatest Hits first? I See a Darkness wasn't even the cheapest, but something about it drew me. The artwork and titles certainly give you a clue that it's not going to be an uplifting affair, and maybe I thought, having heard only three songs, that Will was the man to make an album with such a title live up to it's potential.
And does it! It's a wonderfully bleak album. The songs are perfectly minimal, but full when they need to be. My favourite, Nomadic Revery (All Around), builds up to be this huge song. Similarly, Madaleine Mary, comes in with a kick that you weren't expecting. Then, of course, there's the title track, Death to Everyone, and Black. There's not a bad moment in the 11 songs. I swear the cd is intentionally a few decibels quieter then most albums too - perhaps to make you turn the amp up higher than you ever normally would, and to make you listen in closer and more intently (although does rule its songs out when making mixtapes, sadly). I bought this LP only the other week (at the Independent Record Label Market), but it's been an album I've wanted on vinyl for years.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Independent Label Market
When: 13/07/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
