Bright Eyes- Cassadaga

If you watch the new Bright Eyes video for 'Four Winds' you can visibly see the change in Conor Oberst. The song we will come to later, but the video itself manages to compose Oberst's eighth album into a 3 minute bite. It is clean, black and white and extremely slick. A little too slick, it represents the first full budget Bright Eyes video, as the band no longer appeal as an indie kid's depressing pleasure. In 2005 the band managed to make it to number one and two simultaneously in the American charts, something you thought was never possible for Mr Oberst, after all his music was never struck as 'appealing to the masses.' When releasing Digital Ash in a Digital Urn the album took the route of electronic warbles, depression, hard drug use and death, not something you'd expect to hear on Radio 1.

However Oberst hasn't strayed too far from the beaten path for his next venture. Cassadaga, a place in Florida which homes hundreds of psychics is the inspiration for the album and as it begins with 'Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)' there is a hovering feeling of fear in the recording. We hear a woman tread the history of the village as an orchestra builds to an impending doom but the material itself is less effecting.


Then we burst in 'Four Winds', the forced violin takes over as the player pushes the melody with the production covering any mishaps. As Oberst sings "The Bible's blind, the Torah's deaf, the Qu'ran's mute/If you burn them all together you get close to the truth" It's a consistent grower but it is also extremely safe for a singer known to speak his mind. As the album continues it feels as if Oberst is purposely stepping away from personal experiences.



In 'Hot Knives' we hear the story of a forgiving wife which is brought down by the lyrics, "Oh, I've made love, yeah, I've been fucked, so what?" Somehow this self indulging behaviour always sounded sweeter coming from Oberst's mouth, but here it is empty, lacking any real sense. 'Soul Singer in a Session Band' also displays some of the worst lyrics Bright Eyes have ever come to expect. A repetitive bland rhythm it is by far the worst song on the album and as Oberst sings "See the Soul Singer in the session band/Shredded to ribbons beneath a microphone stand" its hard to believe the subject of a session singer was really at the heart of Oberst's songwriting.

But despite the slides Cassadaga does have some great moments. 'Make a Plan to Love Me' is a heartfelt love song reminiscent of I'm Wide Awake Its Morning but it is still short of the mark, leaving the listener frustrated more than anything. 'Middleman' also proves a great listen but even as the album drifts further into Fevers and Mirrors it is still too overproduced to make a footprint in Oberst's back catalogue, and this seems to be the main problem with Cassadaga as a whole.

It is hard to believe that two years ago Conor Oberst was fighting against the presidential elections by releasing songs such as 'When the President Talks to God' and 'Road to Joy'. Even looking to Fevers and Mirrors it still felt like Oberst had something to say. He had a fire which gave his songs an air of arrogance, and yearning. Now as he moves towards total rehabilitation Oberst appears to have left this behind, which provides a fine album but as any Bright Eyes fan will know, does not justify his previous work.

Bright Eyes- Four Winds. mp3
Bright Eyes- Hot Knives. mp3
Bright Eyes- Middleman. mp3