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The Purple Bird

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The Purple Bird
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 31, 2025 (2025-01-31)
Studio
  • The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa
  • The Butcher Shack
Genre
Length43:35
LabelDomino
ProducerDavid Ferguson
Bonnie "Prince" Billy chronology
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You
(2023)
The Purple Bird
(2025)

The Purple Bird is the thirtieth studio album by American singer Will Oldham. It was released under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy on January 31, 2025.

Background and composition

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The Purple Bird was produced by David Ferguson, making it the second album on which Will Oldham has worked with a producer.[1] It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.[2]

A folk and country album, The Purple Bird consists of 12 tracks and has a runtime of 43 minutes.[3][4]

Release and reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Clash7/10[6]
The Observer[2]
The Independent[7]
MusicOMH[8]
Paste7.8/10[3]
Pitchfork7.7/10[4]
PopMatters8/10[9]
Uncut[1]
Under the Radar6.5/10[10]

The Purple Bird was released on January 31, 2025, through Domino.[12] It is Oldham's thirtieth studio album, and follows Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You (2023).[1]

Upon its release, The Purple Bird received positive reception from music critics.[5][6][13][7][8][3][4][9][1][10] According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Purple Bird received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from 14 critic scores.[11]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Turned to Dust (Rolling On)"4:04
2."London May"Oldham3:20
3."Tonight with the Dogs I'm Sleeping"
3:39
4."Boise, Idaho"
3:46
5."The Water's Fine"
4:25
6."Sometimes It's Hard to Breathe"Oldham3:46
7."New Water"Oldham3:39
8."Guns Are for Cowards"Oldham3:03
9."Downstream"
  • Oldham
  • Ferguson
  • Anderson
3:48
10."One of These Days (I'm Gonna Spend the Whole Night with You)"
3:50
11."Is My Living in Vain?"Oldham[a]3:14
12."Our Home"
2:55
Total length:43:35

Note

  • ^[a] Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark is credited for writing "Is My Living in Vain?"

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for The Purple Bird
Chart (2025) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 57
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 66
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 93
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 20
UK Country Albums (OCC)[18] 1
UK Album Downloads (OCC)[19] 25
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[20] 8

References

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  1. ^ a b c d O'Connell, Sharon (January 30, 2025). "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Purple Bird". UNCUT. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Empire, Kitty (January 31, 2025). "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: The Purple Bird review – Will Oldham goes country, but darkly". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "Bonnie "Prince" Billy Delights in His Artistry on The Purple Bird". Paste Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Deusner, Stephen M. "Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Purple Bird". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  5. ^ a b The Purple Bird - Bonnie "Prince" Billy | Album | AllMusic, retrieved February 6, 2025
  6. ^ a b Watkins, Michael (January 27, 2025). "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Purple Bird | Reviews". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Helen (January 31, 2025). "Like a roadhouse bartender, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy serves familiar comforts and soaks up the world's strange spillages on his new album". The Independent. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Murphy, John (January 29, 2025). "Bonnie Prince Billy - The Purple Bird | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Bonnie Prince Billy Finds a Comfortable Home". www.popmatters.com. January 30, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Trunick, Austin. "The Purple Bird". www.undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "The Purple Bird". Metacritic. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  12. ^ "Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Yoa... Voici les 5 albums de la semaine ! | Les Inrocks". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). January 31, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  13. ^ Empire, Kitty (January 31, 2025). "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: The Purple Bird review – Will Oldham goes country, but darkly". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  14. ^ "Ö3 Austria Top40: Longplay-Charts vom 11. Februar 2025" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Bonnie Prince Billy – The Purple Bird" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 9, 2025.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bonnie Prince Billy – The Purple Bird" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  18. ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  19. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  20. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.