Ode + Shorts

“Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”

Shot using the same stripped-down approach as her recent festival hit Old Joy (out on 26 January), it is a sharp little super 8 love-story spun from the mythical tale of Billy Joe and Bobbie Lee. This star-crossed pair, who first appeared in Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 song ‘Ode to Billy Joe’, are here seen tentatively falling for each other in a claustrophobic Southern baptist town, with bags of atmosphere provided by Will Oldham’s instrumental score and a theme tune by Yo La Tengo.