The Guatemalan Handshake, starring Will Oldham, due on DVD

Photo by Matt Jordan

Surprise! Bonnie "Prince" Billy will release a brand new album next month on Drag City. Okay, so it’s not quite a zero-lead-time shocker on the order of Radiohead/Nine Inch Nails/The Raconteurs, but this being April 24, May is lurking just around the corner.

We don’t have a set release date yet, however, or a tracklist. But we do know that the album is called Lie Down in the Light and it features a song called "So Everyone", a demo version of which can be heard below.

Light is technically the proper follow-up to 2006’s The Letting Go, though bountiful Billy has snuck out a few discs since then, including live album Wilding in the West, demos collection Wai Notes, and covers extravaganza Ask Forgiveness.

And April may be nearly out the door, but before it goes, we’ll get a DVD release of The Guatemalan Handshake. The Todd Rohal-directed 2007 feature-length film stars Will Oldham as a "human doormat" gone missing, with all sorts of hilarity ensuing. The DVD descends April 29 via Benten Films, and Will even pops up in some of the bonus behind-the-scenes footage.

Finally, Bonnie "Prince" and his retinue will make diplomatic visits to Scandinavia, Germany, and Eastern Europe this summer.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy:

06-16 Rimini, Italy - Strade Bleu Festival
06-18 Skopje, Macedonia - MNT
06-20 Belgrade, Serbia - Student Cultural Center
06-21 Zagreb, Croatia - Teatar ITD
06-22 Vienna, Austria - WUK Kulturzentrum
06-23 Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music Bar
06-25 Helsinki, Finland - Tavastia
06-26 Tampere, Finland - Klubi
06-29 Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
07-01 Dresden, Germany - Alter-Schlacthof
07-02 Berlin, Germany - Schiller Theater
07-04 Rudolstadt, Germany - Rudolstadt Festival
07-06 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-08 Copenhagen, Denmark - Tivoli Theatre