On this album, you can still hear the emo past of Conor Oberst and there are some heartbreak songs within the mx, but there are also some really funny and happy songs in there. Oberst's vocals are much more trained than they were especially on the first Bright Eyes albums, but there's still that great trembling that makes him sound so unique.
About year and a half ago I saw Conor Oberst live for the first time. He didn't really play many Bright Eyes songs, which was a bit disappointing, but the gig was anyhow really good and it confirmed my view of Oberst as a fantastic musician. This gig was just slightly after Trump had been elected as president to US and Oberst made this whole big speech of how Trump and Brexit make people just hate and fear each other and how we should all do what we can to hold on to humane values and let conservative powers know that we don't agree with the hateful policies. Even though the speech was something of a cliche, I felt that Oberst really knew what to say and how to say it just right on that gig.
The album starts with an easygoing Americana folk song Cape Cañaveral. This is very much in line with other acoustic folk ballads Oberst has made as Bright Eyes. It's a song I can imagine him playing on his bed by himself at home when he feels like getting sentimental. Sausalito is a proper country song with some Southern-style guitars and doubled vocals. I'm reminded of some independent movies that take place in Texas. Get-Well-Cards is an excellent bouncy folk song with Dylan-style vocals and storytelling. Lenders in the Temple is a type of song why I just love Oberst's music. It's a highly intimate song with some amazingly special trembling vocals and melancholic melodies. Danny Callahan is another country song with some wavy rhythms and great catchy melodies. It's a kind of song that would be great to listen to while driving through the US in a car with sun shining and cool breeze of air blowing from the windows. I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital) is a great fast-paced folk rock song with excellent saloon pianos. The guitars are amazing. NYC - Gone, Gone has a great country-western stomp beat with overdriven guitar sounds and singalong-style vocals. Souled Out!!! has some excellent lo-fi electric guitars that make this countryesque song sound almost like Pavement. The album ends with probably the most beautiful song of the album, Milk Thistle. This ballad sounds full of hope and the whole mood is just fabulously endearing.
I haven't seen many music videos from Conor Oberst before. The first one I found was for the song Souled Out!!! It features Conor Oberst himself photoshopped in different everyday situations such as shopping or going to the barber, while singing the song. There are all sorts of funny things happening in the video, but there's no real storyline. In some ways, it's a very classic music video.
Even though I did like many of the Bright Eyes albums more than this solo album, it might be that it was time for Conor Oberst to renew his sound a bit and I feel like that was what he did by switching to use his own name. The songs on this album are maybe not that unified and it feels like this album is maybe more of a collection of singles than a theme album, but I don't really care since there are so many great songs on it.
Listen to the album on Spotify.
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