Connor Oberst is a prolific 27 year old American who has already recorded ten albums under the guise of 'Bright Eyes' a loosely formed collective led by singer-songwriter Oberst with able assisitance from his long standing musically versatile collaborator Mike Mogis. During the past 12 months Oberst has been responsible for a couple of contrasting albums, the first of which, Noise Floors, was released in February.Noise Floors is essentially a compilation album containing a selection of former 'B' sides recorded during a seven year period from 1998. This album comprises a collection of whimsical tracks, which is fairly representative of his back-catalogue.
The second Bright Eyes album released in 2007, Cassadega, saw Oberst enter the mainstream by developing a tighter sound less reliant on the soft plinking acoustic instrumentation and the strained emotive vocal output typical of his earlier work.
What sets Oberst apart from others in the genre is his ear for a good melody, his angst ridden vocals and his lyrical talents. This combination of talents has seen him labour, particularly in the USA, under the all too familiar '..new Dylan' tag for a number of years now.In spite of this Oberst continues to produce hauntingly memorable ballads which mostly compensates for his occasional tendency to lapse into self indulgence.
Listen to Bright Eyes on Hype Machine
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