THEE CONDUCTOR W/ BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY, ENNOIA
“We grow and we seek / a feelin’ locked in meaning,” Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy sings on the new collaboration with Jason Butler’s Thee Conductor, called Ennoia, an eight song album put out on Austin’s Spaceflight Record, which features Glen Kotche from Wilco on drums and percussion, and the Tosca String Quartet, who have worked with the likes of David Byrne. Ennoia (pronounced en-noy-ah) is a Greek word used by the old philosophers that means the act of thinking, consideration, meditation—the essence of mind, understanding, will, manner of feeling or thinking. And the album grapples, specifically, with how we orient ourselves with ourselves and one another in a meaningful and sustainable fashion.
It is no surprise that Will Oldham, the philosopher poet, has aligned himself with Butler, who composed the songs, wrote the lyrics, and plays guitar on the album. And while it harkens back to 90’s Drag City alternative folk in all the best ways, the years of experience between then and now is palpably felt. “Hey big man… / Well, I know you’ve seen everything / Things are harder than you think,” Oldham sings with seeming censure of those in their ivory towers and compassion for the every man.