Artist: Bright Eyes
Album: The People's Key
Label: Saddle Creek Records
Release Date: Feb. 15
Grade: C+
It began like any other Bright Eyes album – a unique sequence of sounds preceding a quiet guitar riff, topped with the distinct, haunting vocals of Conor Oberst.
However, a blasting voice with an inaudible drawl may not be the best appetizer to ease listeners into The People's Key, the band's highly anticipated seventh studio album. Oberst's voice isolates the listener with his opening lyrics:
"Space is expanding / there's spirits coming from the center."
With the use of eerie, galactic-like sound effects paired with the mysterious man's message, "Firewall" disappointingly frames the rest of the album to sound more like a strange self-discovery mixtape than the traditional gut-wrenching and soul-saturated melodies Bright Eyes is known to generate.
And it doesn't get much better from there.
The second track, "Shell Games," sounds promising, as grand-piano chord progressions are paired with Oberst's familiar heavy poetry. However, the hopeful transition from bad beginnings to a better segue is shattered once the chorus is complete and an awkward guitar-synth breakdown echoing the charming noises of the '80's pop-rock scene dramatically interrupts.
The rest of the album unfortunately follows the same obscure blueprints established by the first few tracks. With a frequent use of distortion and predictable electronics, and the nameless voice from "Firewalls" making a few more guest appearances in later tracks, this album is a far trek away from the meaningful lyrics and expressive instrumentals produced in 2007's Cassadaga.
Toward the end of the album, "Beginner's Mind" seems to link the traditions of Bright Eyes with its new sound. Oberst's familiar shaky and melancholy vocals bellow over a strumming acoustic guitar, a style somewhat comparable to songs from 2002's Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, but with a less ambitious tone.
In efforts to create a new sound, Bright Eyes has birthed one confused and uncomfortable album that will be a hit or complete miss by even its most adoring fans.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
