Emmett Kelly, a.k.a. The Cairo Gang, wrote the music for Wonder Show of the World, while Will Oldham provided his signature poetic lyrics as Bonnie “Prince” Billy. But aliases aside, there's an appealing nakedness to these songs. The uncluttered arrangements leave plenty of room for Oldham's off-kilter worldview to shine through, be it the acoustic thump of "The Sounds Are Always Begging" belying the song’s disturbing imagery, or the meditative soundscape of "Merciless and Great" seamlessly befitting its sparse, ambiguous lyrics.