Review Summary: a solid addition to an impressive catalog
What can one expect when listening to a new album by Will Oldham? No matter what moniker he's using or what general mood he tries to capture, an Oldham record will contain some down-to-earth, heartfelt folk. This doesn't change on Ask Forgiveness, an EP comprised of 8 tracks, only 1 being an original. The bulk of the record is made up of covers of songs by artists ranging from Björk to Merle Haggard to R. Kelly. One might think that a cover album with such varying songs done by a hero of the Pitchfork crowd would be tinged with irony (a la Ben Folds' cover of "Bitches Ain't ***"), but Oldham delivers an earnest and beautifully minimalist performance on every track. "Am I Demon?," originally sung by the scary-looking metal icon Glenn Danzig, is a perfect example. Oldham flips what was originally a metal anthem on its head, turning it into a quiet acoustic ballad. Somehow, hearing the soft voiced folkie singing "Am I demon? Am I human? Am I just like you?" is much more haunting than hearing it shouted by the freakishly large Danzig.
Although each track has a lot of soul, Oldham can't be given too many originality points: he turns all the covers into acoustic folk numbers, and the EP suffers from a few tracks sounding too alike. His versions of Björk's "I've Seen It All" and Phil Ochs' "My Life" are somewhat disappointing, and I've often found my attention wandering elsewhere during these tracks. The lone original track, "I'm Loving the Street," is the fastest and most upbeat on the album, and its country-esque stacked vocals recall Workingman's Dead, showing that Jerry Garcia's influence on Oldham is not solely beard-based. Far and away the best track on the album is the cover of Frank Sinatra's "Cycles." The song is made up of just a few repeated guitar chords along with Oldham's vocals backed by Meg Baird's, but it is utterly gorgeous in its bare simplicity. Oldham's earnest delivery of the lyrics, which are about a down-on-his-luck man trying to remain hopeful, is wrought with hope and pain, and I can't think of a more perfect man to sing such heartbreaking lyrics such as these: "You know, it's almost funny
But things can't get worse than now.
So I'll keep on tryin' to sing
But please, just don't ask me how."
Each verse is followed by Oldham's melodic whistling, which is indescribably perfect and which has made this one of my new favorite songs.
The final track sticks out as the oddest choice for a cover: R. Kelly's "The World's Greatest." And, yeah, it's a pretty strange interpretation. The lyrics seem awkwardly delivered at first (he even says "axe" instead of ask), but by the end all of the elements of the song come together and its greatness shines through. Most of Oldham's choices for covers here are perfect, and the fact that he can be so consistently great in both writing his own songs and handling others' is impressive in itself. When he hits, he hits hard, so the tracks where he stumbles can be easily forgiven.
you could put the lyric quotes together, instead of breaking them up. just my personal preference there, tho.
