At the heart of the Bright Eyes collective, American singer / songwriter Conor Oberst is a kind of child prodigy of alternative music. Starting at the age of thirteen, he managed to mix americana with hints of emo, (post) punk, electronica and spirituality. The latter is not always reflected on stage, where he can behave quite obstinately. On this solo album Oberst certainly also sounds with both
… feet on the ground in thirteen traditional sounding songs that were recorded informally somewhere in Mexico. Acoustic guitars dominate in intimate parts, interspersed with steaming, electric folk rock songs. Dylan is never far away, while Oberst seems to have treated his accompanists in advance to records from The Band and Crazy Horse. His voice sometimes seems a bit too light for this material, but his songs stand up well in their bare and elementary arrangements. A new sound on Oberst's erratic musical path. (MR)more
