There's an alternative cover picture for this album. I own the one with a toilet that also appears in this blog post, but there's an alternative cover with some flowers in the cover. I think the toilet cover (pun intended) is a lot better.
Most of Bright Eyes albums are largely acoustic and they sound very organic, which makes this exploration into electronic sounds almost like another band. There are visiting musicians from yeah Yeah Yeahs and from Postal Service on this record, which kind of helps to explain the sound of it. Even though there are some really good songs on this album, I think Conor Oberst's vocals sound better with acoustic guitars. His voice is so delicate and trembling that I think it requires similar kind of authenticity to accompany it.
Like all the Bright Eyes albums, this one too starts with a very strange song to get rid of occasional listeners. Time Code starts with strange muffled electronic sounds and quiet panting. This goes on for several minutes until the electronic drums and synths come in. Gold Mine Gutted is the first song of the album, that really reminds me of some slower Postal Service songs. There are also some similarities to Handsome Furs, although Oberst's vocals stick to the laconic lo-fi aesthetics as always. Arc of Time (Time Code) has nice electronic rhythms that get more life added to them throughout the song. I especially like the electronically changed acoustic guitars in this song. Down in a Rabbit Hole is a very typical Bright Eyes song by it's composition, but the melancholic and hopeless melodies are this time accompanied by industrial sounding drumming and electronic samples. Take It Easy (Love Nothing) was the hit single from this album. It is indeed one of the best songs on the album. It's more of an upbeat rock song than most Bright Eyes songs and despite the electronic rhythms and buzzes, I think of it more as a rock song than an electronic song. Hit the Switch has great storytelling and distortedly happy melodies which don't sound so happy with Oberst's trembling vocals. I Believe In Symmetry is a classic kind of Bright Eyes song that sounds a lot like the early lo-fi albums. This is one of the few songs where the electronic instrumentations seem like a natural choice instead of something that's there just for the sake of experimentation. Devil In the Details is a beautifully melancholic song with mystical electronic echoes. The electronic sounding harp sounds are particularly cool. Ship In a Bottle is one of the most acoustic sounding songs on the album. There are authentic drums and acoustic guitars through most of the song, but some electric guitars and electronic samples have been added on top. Light Pollution is an actual rock song with overdriven electric guitars, which is also quite an unprecedented feature on a Bright Eyes album. Theme to Pinata goes to the other direction with its picked acoustic guitars and endearing vocals. The album ends with Easy/Lucky/Free which is probably my favourite song on the album. In this song the electronics really do the song justice and the composition is so strong that the sounds don't really even matter that much.
I don't think I've ever even thought about watching any music videos from this album before. To my pleasant surprise, there's a music video for Easy/Lucky Free. The video is mostly just Conor Oberst in a school-like building writing on a window drawing some lyrics of the song, some nonsensical things as well. It's a great example of how you can make a really low budget music video that still keeps the viewer's interests up.
I think I've given this album way too much bad reputation. Sure, it's not quite as amazing as some of the other Bright Eyes albums, but I can't really blame Oberst for wanting to do something different and some of the songs on the album are actually really great just because of the sounds. I think I should listen to this album a bit more to really start appreciating it.
Listen to the album on Spotify.
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