Bonnie Prince Billy - the cross, 2016

"When it first appeared on Prince's 1987 opus, "The Cross" stood out as a direct expression of gospel-soul, but with a Purple imprimatur all over it. The song's words were classic and timeless, pointing to a particular cross-section of tradition — African-American and Christian, with an awareness of the urban rings of hell first described in hymn by Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Yet the instrumentation was led by a metallic electric guitar and sitar that pulled the song out of a well-defined period and idea. Instead, it reached into something psychedelic, cosmically and spiritually fulfilling, and yet also ungrounded — scriptures as ecstatic metaphor more than text. No denomination or religiosity; just a hint of eternal truth."