Until this afternoon, I had never encountered Jules de Corte, a blind Dutch singer-songwriter who snagged several European prizes in the 1960s and died in 1996 at the age of 71. The improvisational Belgian quartet Linus was also unfamiliar to me. Yet I was acquainted with the beloved, idiosyncratic Bonnie “Prince” Billy, so the news that he’s preparing a Jules de Corte tribute album with Linus called for a closer look.
Will Oldham clearly relishes a side quest. Earlier this year, he issued the charming Bonnie “Prince” Billy album We Are Together Again, the latest installment in a sprawling catalog. (There was also a live record titled Ghosts Of American Psychonauts released last month.) Later this month, Oldham and Linus will release their collaborative LP The Outsider: The Music Of Jules de Corte, a collection of de Corte’s songs that have been reworked and translated into English.
Today, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Linus share three tracks from the LP: “And God Saw,” “Mariska,” and “Little Jesus, Mighty God.” As someone who is entirely unversed in all the non-Oldham players involved in this project, all I can really say is that these tracks largely sound like Bonnie “Prince” Billy tunes with occasional jazz flourishes. They’re pretty! Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “And God Saw”
02 “Little Anita”
03 “Mariska”
04 “The Stranger”
05 “Little Jesus, Mighty God”
06 “When I Was Nude”
07 “And God Saw (instrumental)
08 “The Outsider”
The Outsider: The Music Of Jules de Corte is out 10/30.
