2: The Letting Go (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy)

The title of this sweet and elegant album comes from an Emily Dickinson poem--- "This is the hour of lead / remember if outlived / As freezing persons recollect the snow / First chill, then stupor, then the letting go." And Will Oldham's tunes have a hypnotic quality that helps them build all the way to a richly incoherent final track ("Untitled"). Strings, the blues, soothing vocals--- it would all sound a bit too cold if it wasn't so sincere. But this is heartfelt stuff, and it's lovely.