Conor Oberst: s/t

Label: Merge

Bright Eyes’ songwriter Conor Oberst recorded this self-titled album while rambling through Mexico. Far from home, the Omaha native still delivers introspective, witty lyrics with a country twang and a biting edge. He might have dropped his stage name and his longtime producer Mike Mogis, but Oberst is still singing deceivingly simple songs with haunting lyrics that linger in your memory. You can criticize him for being overly emotional, but Oberst is a brilliant lyricist. “Sausalito” is an on-the-road love song that comes to life in details from “hair blowing in the hot wind” to the smell of “the leather of your new car.” “Milk Thistle” is contemplative and ultimately resigned song about death that decides “if I go to Heaven, I’ll be bored as hell.” And while “NYC- Gone, Gone” aggressively pounds its way through, “Cape Canaveral” is a winding, delicate daydream full of hypnotic images that lull as they pay homage to loved ones. But Oberst’s theme is found in “Moab,” where he reminds us what his travels seem to have taught him, as he repeats, “There’s nothing that the road cannot heal.” (Margi)