''The Letting Go'' is a 2006 studio album by

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Son ...

. It was released on Drag City.

Production

The album was recorded in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and produced by

Valgeir Sigurðsson Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician. Biography Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recordin ...

, who is known for his work with the Icelandic artist

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

. The arrangement was done by

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestra ...

. Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables also sings on the album. The album's title comes from the last lines of the

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

poem that starts "After a Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes."

''This is the hour of lead''
''Remembered if outlived,''
''As freezing persons recollect the snow,''
''First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.''

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''The Letting Go'' received an average score of 84% based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' placed ''The Letting Go'' at number 195 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. * Emmett Kelly – guitar * Dawn McCarthy – singing * Paul Oldham – bass *

– recording, mixing * Jim White – drums

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Letting Go, The 2006 albums Will Oldham albums Drag City (record label) albums Domino Recording Company albums