Send "Bright Eyes " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 Not many bands evolve like Bright Eyes. Everyone knows that Conor Oberst is at least somewhat crazy - he's from Omaha, somewhere in the middle of America - and I get the impression that living there would drive anybody slightly off their rocker. If you don't think he's crazy, then we can at least agree that he does, for the most part, whatever the hell he wants when he writes music. Returning with his most famed project, Oberst recently presented us with Bright Eyes' eighth studio album, The People's Key. To describe the record in one line, it is a meeting place for his old influences and his new ones.There's the powerful indie rock that made Bright Eyes a staple in the "emo" scene, there's a scoop of the grassroots style that Oberst acquired on his solo records, there's even a handful of electronics and orchestration thrown in for ambience that might have come from a Bright Eyes album that I never paid enough attention to. Then there's that punk tinge that Oberst always has about him...not in the sense that he writes punk music, just in the sense that, like was said before, he just does whatever he wants. And that always comes across as at least a little punk. One of the examples of Oberst doing whatever he wants is him giving a chunk of his album - well, a few minutes anyway - to Randy Brewer, who is apparently a Texas native that Oberst met while on the road. Brewer preaches some ridiculous stuff that is half over my head and half insane. The ramblings are great parts of the record, though, as they lead into songs or end songs extremely well. After over two minutes of Brewer telling you something about Albert Einstein, the Garden of Eden and eight universes combining to make a super-universe, things finally get started with "Firewall." It's a pounding yet rhythmic track, with equal parts aggression and calmness, and sets the tone nicely for the record....full text |
| Rollingstone |
| It's been almost a decade since Bright Eyes' Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, the epic 2002 album that established Conor Oberst as the pain-strumming poet of emo and the newest of the New Dylans. But the 22-year-old hadn't asked for either gig. So Oberst spent the 2000s abjuring big statements, choosing to scale down his sound, bum around North America and try to figure himself out. "I've taken some comfort . . . " he sings on Bright Eyes' first album in nearly four years, "knowing I don't have to be an exception." The latest dispatch from Planet Conor weaves the weird knowledge he's accrued over the years into a rich, sprawling, fragmented record. It's got elements of the hazy synth rock of 2005's Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and echoes of his two recent, rootsy solo albums. But being Bright Eyes again mainly means a break from Solo Conor's rustic tranquility and a return to the bruised- angel indie rock of his earliest albums. Oberst brings it all back home by recording in his native Omaha with Bright Eyes' other two permanent members — multi-instrumentalist Nate Walcott and producer Mike Mogis — plus local pals from Cursive and the Faint. Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos Oberst's lyrics explore a mysticism he's been messing with since 2007's Cassadaga. On "A Machine Spiritual (In the People's Key)," he's a futurist seer, tweeting happily from the end of time: "History bows and it steps aside/In the jungle there are columns of purple light/We are starting over." The album is full of nods to Rastafarianism, including references to "one love" and Zion. Oberst says he loves reggae's symbolism and anti-imperialist spirit, and throughout People's Key he uses Rasta vibrations as an emotional power source. On "Haile Selassie," through a haze of epic images, the supernatural force "calling me home like Haile Selassie" ends up being a girl: "I was swimming with you in that cenote the heavens made with black fire."...full text |
| Culturebully |
| Conor Oberst has been anything but unproductive since dropping the last Bright Eyes release nearly four years ago. Recording a pair of alt-country albums with the Mystic Valley Band in addition to dropping the not-so-folky debut album from Monsters of Folk with Jim James, M. Ward & Mike Mogis, Oberst has clearly demonstrated an interest in diversifying his range. Not surprising then that this trend continues into Oberst’s new release, The People’s Key; the album doing well to avoid the musical trends that have persisted through his long string of past Bright Eyes recordings. Aside from enlisting contributors ranging from Matt Maginn (Cursive) to Carla Azar (Autolux) to Clark Baechle (The Faint), The People’s Key is still as diverse sounding as anything Oberst has done musically to this point: “I was really burnt out on that rootsy Americana shit,” explained the musician in an interview with Billboard recently. “So I tried to steer clear of that.” Perhaps even more important than the musical shift is Oberst’s outward showing of lyrical ambition on the recording. Often pigeonholed as a songwriter, The People’s Key finds Oberst complementing the musically diverse tracks with lyrics aimed at transcending reality, often looking to the metaphysical in hope of discovering some sort of truth. There may be no better example of this direction than the spoken monologue which runs throughout the album, starting with a lengthy introduction in “Firewall.” Heard again in “A Machine Spiritual,” “Jejune Stars” and album closer “One For You, One For Me,” fringe musician and Refried Ice Cream frontman Denny Brewer opens the album with an extended rant, touching on examples of extraterrestrial influence on our culture before the track eventually picks up a slow roll, closing with Oberst vocally humming “Seen by I and I,” a refrain which is echoed again as the album comes to its end. What follows is best described by Oberst himself, who explained recently to NY Magazine, “The one recurring theme in my writing, and in my life in general, is confusion.” And that’s exactly what’s driving The People’s Key—lyrically, at least: not knowing....full text |
Bright Eyes lyrics Music videoclips
