|
 |
Conor Oberst
Coner Oberst
By Matt Conner
It’s been over a decade since we last heard directly from the namesake of Conor Oberst, who issued 1996’s The Soundtrack to My Movie under his own name. Still the Bright Eyes front man has hardly been silent, so don’t believe for a minute that the recorded-in-Mexico Conor Oberst departs much at all from Cassadega or other recent stateside folk/rock efforts. And that’s a good thing. “Danny Callahan” and “Sausalito” expand the album’s scope to properly include the incredible talent surrounding Oberst within the Mystic Valley Band. Other tunes like “Leaders in the Temple” and “Cape Canaveral” shrink the spotlight down to Oberst’s lonesome baritone, the latter a convincing cry of fear in today’s political climate.
Yet it’s “Milk Thistle,” the most stripped-down tune, that’s the most haunting as Oberst sings, “Let me down slow/let me go slow/ I’ve been hurrying up now/I was poised for greatness/ I was down and out/I keep death at my heels like a basset hound/If I go to heaven I’ll be bored as hell/like a crying baby at the bottom of a well.” It’s a proper closing to an album that reminds us of Oberst’s significant talent and brings attention to our humanity at the same time.
|
