ROOTS

CARL WILSON

LIE DOWN IN THE LIGHTBonnie "Prince" BillyDrag City***½Kentucky's shape- and sound-shifting Will Oldham, over many albums of eccentric country-folk, has been at times sharp and inspired but also prone to puerile shock gestures, mannered antiquarianism and solipsism. Yet on the assured Lie Down in the Light his dark outlook is balanced with a gently sparkling energy, in arrangements that lay on textures of piano, banjo, woodwinds, pedal steel and more without crowding. Most important, he is singing not about strained Jungian archetypes but about emotions actual people feel. Singer Ashley Webber is an effective foil, especially on You Want That Picture, a he-said-she-said duet that plays romantic angst against life-and-death fact to indelible effect. If he's new to you, start here; if you've lost patience before, come back.