Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “London May”

In between the Misfits and his eponymous band Danzig, Glenn Danzig served as the frontman for the short-lived but incendiary goth-punk-metal band Samhain. Long before he found fame as the idiosyncratic roots-music singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Will Oldham was a Louisville punk and a big Samhain fan. Years ago, Oldham wrote a Pitchfork article about his experience going on the first Samhain tour as a photographer. Evidently, he’s been tight with former Samhain drummer London May ever since, and he’s got a new song named after the man.

Next month, Will Oldham will release the new Bonnie “Prince” Billy album The Purple Bird, and it’s one of his occasional experiments in proper Nashville country. Oldham recorded the LP in Nashville with producer David “Ferg” Ferguson and an array of session aces, and we’ve already posted its lead single, the Tim O’Brien duet “Our Home.” Today, Oldham has shared “London May.” May played the lead in the 2022 horror movie Night Of The Bastard, and Oldham originally wrote the song for that film. Here’s what Oldham says about it, via the Line Of Best Fit:

When David Ferguson and I were putting songs together for The Purple Bird sessions, I remembered the song I’d made for London’s film; I was performing it regularly live, and it didn’t feel quite complete… Ferg was game, and we tracked it. I’d long begun to want to hear other voices in the song. In the end, we roped in the phenomenal Kentucky-born singer Brit Taylor to sing harmonies and other supporting parts. Her voice is stellar, to say the least.

Brit Taylor’s harmonies on this song really are killer. There is precious little obvious Samhain influence to be heard on “London May.” Instead, it’s an oddly sleek and catchy country-rock song that feels like a more polished version of Oldham’s usual Bonnie “Prince” Billy music. The song’s Sai Selvarajan-directed video finds Oldham and May chilling in a neon-lit garage together, and it’s got more slo-mo skateboarding and breakdancing than I expected. Check it out below.

The Purple Bird is out 1/31 on No Quarter/Domino. Fun fact: Before Samhain, London May played drums in the Baltimore punk band Reptile House, and other members of that band went on to form underground legends Lungfish. Earlier this year, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Nathan Salsburg, and Tyler Trotter released absurdly stretched-out covers of two Lungfish songs.