- Artist
- Bright Eyes
- Label
- Polydor
- Release date
- 9th April 2007
- Genre
- Rock/folk/country
Who's a big boy then? Conor Oberst grows up on promising country rock collection
It’s not easy being a child prodigy – get famous and you end up growing up in public. So it is for Conor Oberst, the 27-year old singer-songwriter behind Bright Eyes: releasing recordings from 13, two albums out by 20, then jamming with Springsteen and Neil Young on the anti-Bush Vote For Change Tour, he’s packed a lot in.
By 2005, "the next Bob Dylan" plaudits accompanied the dual release of the politicised folk of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and the experimental Digital Ash In A Digital Urn. What’s more, the US Left attempted to adopt Oberst as some kind of poster-boy after his provocative When The President Talks To God caught mainstream attention. It was little wonder the sensitive, brooding boy from Nebraska soon disappeared from view.
After spending time in Cassadaga, a spiritual retreat in Florida, this 12th studio album represents a shift towards not only an ease with himself, but a musical progression into manhood. Lush with strings and female harmonies, Oberst attempts a warmer, more mainstream-acceptable country rock sound than his earlier fidgety efforts. While the voice remains reedy and somewhat forgettable, so do his rich, at times wordy and visceral lyrics. The grand statements continue (“Future markets, holy wars, been tried ten thousand times before” is classic Oberst) but the subject matter of Cassadaga is more personal: while empires crumble and false prophets abound, his faith in the human spirit has blossomed. As a result, such standout tracks as Make A Plan To Love Me and album closer Lime Tree, while plaintive and melancholy, gaze hopefully towards a brighter future.
In an industry where second chances are rare, it certainly can’t be easy to grow up within music. While Cassadaga sounds like a transition album, it points towards a promising adulthood’s worth of albums.
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