Joya

Solo debut for Palace/Palace Music/Palace Brothers' Will Oldham. Special guest appearance by Dave Berman of the Silver Jews. All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said, "Retiring the Palace moniker for no reason other than a whim, Will Oldham doesn't necessarily explore new territory on his first official solo album, Joya. Oldham sticks to the simple, slow acoustic country-folk songs that dominated the latter-day Palace albums, and like before, the songs teeter between apparent sincerity and inscrutable irony. The hushed dynamics of the music and his whispered vocals suggest that Oldham means what he's saying, but his appropriation of American folk imagery and impenetrable wordplay suggest otherwise."