BRIGHT EYES

BRIGHT EYES
CASSADAGA (2007)
320 KBPS

On their sixth and most straightforwardly clean album, Nebraska's Bright Eyes once again integrate a revolving cast of players to the mix, including Portland tunesmith M. Ward and alt-country queen Gillian Welch. But the band remains at the helm of forever-wunderkind Conor Oberst, and the fruitful songwriter has one-upped 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning with a proficient and accessible ensemble of expansive pop orchestrations and ornate folk songs that chronicle his traverses across the American panorama. Oberst's voice quakes and wanders through South Dakota lore and Sunshine State chicanery, always the perfect vehicle for his threadbare lyrics. "Take the fruit from the tree/Break the skin with your teeth/Is it bitter or sweet/All depends on your timing," he forewarns in "Cleanse Song," a psychedelic merry-go-round of a soundtrack that joins the Scottish-tinged "Soul Singer in a Session Band" and singalong single "Four Winds" as Cassadaga's finest. The 13-song-record is certain to open more doors for a band whose recognition has soared with every release since Oberst was just 14.

1. Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)
2. Four Winds
3. If the Brakeman Turns My Way
4. Hot Knives
5. Make a Plan to Love Me
6. Soul Singer in a Session Band
7. Classic Cars
8. Middleman
9. Cleanse Song
10. No One Would Riot for Less
11. Coat Check Dream Song
12. I Must Belong Somewhere
13. Lime Tree