Conor Oberst is a dirty liar. Well, sort of. In 2009, he made the brash announcement that he would retire the name Bright Eyes after one more record in 2010. It’s December, and we’re only now getting the news: Bright Eyes’ seventh studio album (no mention of it being the last one this time), The People’s Key, will be released February 15, 2011 on Saddle Creek. The album was produced and engineered by Mike Mogis, whom you may remember as part of Monsters of Folk and the producer of Cursive, The Faint, and other Saddle Creek big-shots.
If Oberst truly does retire the tear-saturated name that has resonated with forlorn teens for over a decade, that’ll make another loss in the coterie of sad, sappy suckers in the music scene. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s Owen Ashworth also killed his beloved title this year. If Bright Eyes is truly no more after The People’s Key, where will people turn to find music that shouts out its downtrodden nature on the cover of each record?
But hey, maybe the actual news of this anticipated album (without the last-of caveat) means a new leaf — a revival, if you will — for Bright Eyes all together. If there’s no word soon (or by next spring), you can always try to ask Oberst at one of the two special shows next year: Radio City Music Hall in New York (March 9) and Royal Albert Hall in London (June 23).
The People’s Key tracklisting:
01. Firewall
02. Shell Games
03. Jejune Stars
04. Approximate Sunlight
05. Haile Selassie
06. A Machine Spiritual (In the People’s Key)
07. Triple Spiral
08. Beginner’s Mind
09. Ladder Song
10. One For You, One For Me
Here’s those two dates:
03.09.11 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
06.23.11 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall
• Bright Eyes: http://www.myspace.com/brighteyes
• Saddle Creek: http://www.saddle-creek.com
