NEW Bonnie “Prince” Billy “There is No God” 10-Inch SINGLE/VIDEO

In the early Two-Thousands, there was a curious pattern that began to emerge in the rap music industry and it was one that nobody else seemed to be taking notice of.  The formula consisted of one “artist” releasing two seemingly paradoxical singles back-to-back.  The first would generally be all about cheating/infidelity (aka: creepin’) and the follow-up would be focused around their un-relenting respect and appreciation for a significant other, complete with implications of monogamy, or vice-versa.  The latest single by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “There Is No God“, is backed with the equally contradictory title, “God is Love“.  According to mathematical definition, if God = Love and There Is No God, then, based on the property of Transitive Relation, there is no love… I think.  Right?  Well, whatever the case, there is definitely still a solid amount of compassion involved with this project.  All profits from the sale of the single will be donated directly to charity.

Since his debut album, under his then-moniker of “Palace Brothers“, Will Oldham (aka: Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Palace Songs, Palace Music, etc.) has been a prolific member of the Drag City Records roster and a key reason for the label’s success over the last 2 decades.  Beyond his personal musical output, which consists of dozens of studio albums and EPs, Oldham has proven himself to be a frequent collaborator.  He has produced albums for fellow Drag City artists like Baby Dee, worked with musicians as varied as post-rock pioneers Tortoise, and has appeared in over a dozen films – landing acting jobs before he was ever widely acknowledged for his songwriting talents.  Oldham appeared in Harmony Korine‘s film, Julian Donkey Boy in 1999 and Korine returned the favor by providing vocal contrbutions to the 2001 Bonnie “Prince” Billy effort, Ease Down The Road.  Korine‘s voice doesn’t appear on this new single, although the voice of his wife, Rachel Korine, showcased in the troubadour’s 2004 Harmony-directed “No More Work-Horse Blues” video, does.  Another infamous collaboration for Oldham came in the form of a limited edition 7-inch with David Berman (Silver Jews) titled, Silver Palace.  The There is No God single doesn’t feature David either, but it does feature his wife and Silver Jews collaborator, Cassie Berman.  Further offering their talents to the upcoming release are Ben Hall, Pete Cummings, Peter Townsend, Billy Contreras, and frequent Oldham cohort, Emmet Kelly (The Cairo Gang).

Recorded by Mark Nevers and mastered by Paul Oldham, “There Is No God“/”God Is Love” will be released as a 10″ on June 21, 2011.  However, a pre-order is available now by linking through HERE and a Free 20 sec. Ringtone of the title track is available for download by clicking HERE.

All proceeds from the purchase of the record will be divided between the charities, Save Our Gulf and the Turtle Hospital “to support efforts to clean up and maintain waterways and the lives dependent upon them“.

Here a little information about each of them:

“Save Our Gulf is an initiative of Waterkeeper Alliance to support the Gulf Waterkeepers directly impacted by the BP oil disaster.”

“The Turtle Hospital has successfully treated and released over 1000 Sea Turtles since its founding in 1986. The turtles are released in a variety of ways and at different locations depending on species. Greens are taken either to Pigeon Key via ambulance or they are taken to a spot 20 miles north of Marathon in the Florida Bay. Loggerheads are usually released at Pigeon Key or launched off a boat into the gulf or ocean. Kemp’s Ridleys are taken 70 miles west of Key West out to the coral reefs of the Dry Tortugas.“

… And check out this video, just released for the song, “There is No God“:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awq3m3tGOOo[/youtube]