SUPERWOLVES

After a hiatus of 16 years, old friends WILL OLDHAM and MATT SWEENEY have finally made a new collaborative album, Superwolves. While silver bullets are not necessary, the pair explain to Tom Pinnock why they’re “comfortable with the apocalypse”, the impact of David Berman’s death on their recording sessions, and the pernicious influence of The Wizard Of Oz

WILL OLDHAM and MATT SWEENEY

The steppin’ wolves: Will Oldham (left) and Matt Sweeney

Photo by JONAH FREEMAN & JUSTIN LOWE

“W E’RE gonna find the nursing home that has the best recording studio,” declares Will Oldham. “There’s probably a lot of demand.” “There should be!” says Matt Sweeney.  “Fuck yes, that’d be amazing. We should start getting an eye towards that.”

At the end of April, the pair’s second album together, the reliably excellent Superwolves, will finally see release 16 years after their debut, 2005’s Superwolf. This care-home option, they joke, may be the only way they’ll make a third collaborative record.

“I mean, I’m not the fastest person in the world, as far as my output goes,” says Sweeney, explaining the delay. “But it was just life stuff, nothing too crazy.”

The record is the work of two serial collaborators – Oldham has over the past three decades, mainly as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, worked with the likes of Angel Olsen, Bill Callahan, Bitchin’ Bajas, The Cairo Gang and Meg Baird, while Sweeney’s credits include Iggy Pop, Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power and Songhoy Blues. Yet there’s something singularly special about this partnership in particular, something that transcends both of these men’s usual working practices.

“Oftentimes for me, the excitement is hearing creative folks in a room together,” says Oldham. “Being able to capture something as it’s happening. But in the case of this album, the excitement is capturing confidence – like a snapshot of you on your wedding day or graduation when you look fantastic and you want to put that picture on your wall. So this record is more like, ‘Yeah, this is me looking really sweet’.”

Written over the past five years, Superwolves is the product of a generally fixed process: Oldham writes lyrics and sends them to Sweeney, who comes up with music and a melody line, before both then bat the piece back and forth until it’s finally finished.

“When I was a child, I was taught that if you speak two languages, you’re worth two men,” says Oldham, discussing their partnership. “Music is a kind of language, and the reason to learn it is to connect and communicate with somebody else.”

The 14 songs on Superwolves are growers with the feel of long-loved classics, expertly and sensitively arranged, played and sung, with an assurance born from experience. Such is the spirit of collaboration powering the project, this time Oldham and Sweeney also brought some friends along, including Nigerien guitarists Mdou Moctar and Ahmoudou Madassane, as well as Nashville bassist and longtime Oldham collaborator David Ferguson. David Blaine and David Berman are present too, in spirit at least.

“I think Matt and Will bring the best out of each other,” says Ferguson. “They have the ability to really listen to the other guy and do something that makes the other guy’s parts even better.”

 “Will’s process isn’t strictly goal-oriented,” says Nathan Salsburg, who’s worked, often alongside Joan Shelley, on multiple Oldham releases, such as 2019’s I Made A Place. “It was also about the joy of making music in enjoyable company.”