“Souled Out!!!” – Conor Oberst
(Words/music: Jason Bosel and Conor Oberst, available on Conor Oberst, Merge Records 2008)
Last weekend I went with a group of friends to see Wilco and Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band opened for them. I’ve been a fan of Bright Eyes since discovering Lifted… a few years ago and had a hard time trying to figure out why he dropped his stage name. I touched on this idea a few weeks ago when I wrote about David Bazan dropping his Pedro the Lion name and thought about Oberst the entire time. For a number of reasons – the intensity of the voice in his songs, my proximity to him in age – Bright Eyes was Conor Oberst, including his affiliation with Saddle Creek and his cracking voice. Unlike Bazan, who essentially surrendered his pseudonym to assume control, Oberst seemed to want to close a chapter of his life. The Oberst on the stage opening for Wilco was far more self-assured and stage-ready than the voice I always heard in those Bright Eyes records (even the last couple). Granted, I never saw Bright Eyes perform, so he may have always had stage presence, but Oberst seemed both comfortable and confident with the Mystic Valley Band behind him, tearing through an hour long set of songs from their two records.
If the Bright Eyes albums were interesting because of their rawness – be it Oberst’s vocal tics or his imagery or storytelling, his two “solo” albums find him loosening up and enjoying the songs. “Souled Out!!!” in particular feels “fun” largely because of the shouted backing vocals in the chorus, but it still retains much of Oberst’s tendencies as a songwriter. His verses still privilege images and details over bluntness, making Oberst seem like a singing journalist detailing his surroundings. Where other songwriters might cut directly to their feelings, he brings us into his mind, sharing all of the different things passing through his line of sight with the trust that we’ll make the same connections that he’s making. He made his name as Bright Eyes wringing tortured emotions out of his acoustic guitar, but here Oberst seems to revel in the conclusion that heaven is “Souled Out.” I see the argument that his songs were more interesting when they scratched at his emotional scabs, but “Souled Out!!!” carries a swagger and confidence rarely seen on the Bright Eyes records. This song, with it’s acceptance that St. Peter won’t be opening his gates, would sound morose on a Bright Eyes record; here, it’s an afterthought to the life he’s leading. Even if these songs aren’t as emotionally arresting as some of his other compositions, it’s hard to deny that he’s growing as an all-around songwriter.
More on Conor Oberst: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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