Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley BandOuter South
[Merge Records]
# of spins (out of 5):
[Merge Records]
# of spins (out of 5):
With Bright Eyes currently on the backburner, Conor Oberst is moving full-speed-ahead with his solo project, The Mystic Valley Band. Outer South is the follow-up to his self-titled 2008 release. Amazing this record feels more solid, more put together, and more collaborative than his first solo effort (and oddly enough, far more collaborative than Bright Eyes has ever been). In fact six of the fifteen songs on this album, Oberst doesn't even sing on. The band he has assembled features two (out of three) of his regular Bright Eyes collaborators, Jason Boesel and Nathaniel Walcott (Mike Mogis is surprisingly absent from this record), as well as two singer/songwriters, Nik Freitas and Taylor Hollingsworth, who have been marginally successful in their own right.
Oberst's voice is as aching and quivering as ever, while his lyrics feel far less personal, and in a lot of ways that's good thing. Oberst often has tendency to write lyrics so raw, that he sings so passionately, it becomes uncomfortable to even listen to - that doesn't really happen here. "Slowly (oh so slowly)" is a stand-out track that kicks off the album with a backbeat, and acts as a reminder to his loyal listeners, that they should never assume that know what Oberst might serve up next. "Nikorette" and "Ten Women" are solid folk/country compositions that blends the honesty of old country music with the beautiful symbolism of modern indie-rock.
Taylor Hollingsworth's two songs, "Air Matress" and "Snake Hill" actually steal the show from Oberst's heartbreak. "Air Matress" sounds like a surf-rock anthem that meshed with the cheese of 80's new wave, in a glorious anthem about joys of being in love and poor. While "Snake Hill" comes off as an old-school country ballad, tells a story in a way that only bluegrass crooner's could.
If you come expecting Bright Eyes...you are going to be disappointed. If you come expecting Oberst's last solo album...you are going to be disappointed. But if you come to Outer South (as you should with all of Oberst's incarnations) with a clean slate...then you couldn't possibly be disappointed.
Oberst's voice is as aching and quivering as ever, while his lyrics feel far less personal, and in a lot of ways that's good thing. Oberst often has tendency to write lyrics so raw, that he sings so passionately, it becomes uncomfortable to even listen to - that doesn't really happen here. "Slowly (oh so slowly)" is a stand-out track that kicks off the album with a backbeat, and acts as a reminder to his loyal listeners, that they should never assume that know what Oberst might serve up next. "Nikorette" and "Ten Women" are solid folk/country compositions that blends the honesty of old country music with the beautiful symbolism of modern indie-rock.
Taylor Hollingsworth's two songs, "Air Matress" and "Snake Hill" actually steal the show from Oberst's heartbreak. "Air Matress" sounds like a surf-rock anthem that meshed with the cheese of 80's new wave, in a glorious anthem about joys of being in love and poor. While "Snake Hill" comes off as an old-school country ballad, tells a story in a way that only bluegrass crooner's could.
If you come expecting Bright Eyes...you are going to be disappointed. If you come expecting Oberst's last solo album...you are going to be disappointed. But if you come to Outer South (as you should with all of Oberst's incarnations) with a clean slate...then you couldn't possibly be disappointed.
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