Ok, so I have decided to start up a blog of album reviews, mostly to build up a potrfolio for University. I have had this idea in my head for a while, but I have only just put my idea in to fruition, mostly because I have not had time/could not be bothered.
However, this seemed to be the perfect week to start, as it saw the latest, and possibly final release from my favourite band, Bright Eyes.
And what an album it is.
Opener, 'Firewall' begins with a spoken word sample, which has become synonymous with Bright Eyes' albums. Denny Brewer of the band Refried Ice Cream provides this, eerie, mystical musing about reptiles and Hitler and other such ideas.
From the moment Oberst begins to sing, it is obvious that this album is mch more mature than anything he has produced before. Gone are the heartwrenching ballads of lost love and addiction. You get the feeling that this album is Oberst's attempt to distance himself from his previous work, a thought which is reinforced by various lyrics throughout 'Shell Games.'
"Took the fireworks (Letting off the Happiness) and the vanity (Fevers & Mirrors)
The circuitboard (Digital Ash in a Digital Urn) and the city streets (I'm Wide Awake its Morning)
Shooting star, swaying palm tree (Cassadaga)
Laid it at the arbiter's feet"
"I was dressed in white, touched by something pure
Death obsessed, like a teenager
Sold my tortured youth, piss and vinegar
I'm still angry with no reason to be"
The album has a very spiritual feeling to it, but is still ery different to its predecessor, Cassadaga. This is spititual in an almost mystical sense of the word, with talk of stars and 'solar plexus.'
'Triple Spiral' hints at some sort of religious disillusion:
"I loved you triple spiral
Father, son, and ghost
But you left me in my darkest hour
When I needed you, when I needed you"
There is also a sense of progression in this song, with copious references to time, and the lyrics "Here with the new, out with the old"
Towards the end of the album comes 'Ladder Song', the song that Oberst was bound to have on the album. With its slow piano, and Conor's wavering voice over the top, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that he had indeed reverted to his former self, but they would be wrong. This is instead a song of hope, and friendship, and ushering in the new age.
The album ends with 'One For You, One For Me' which is slightly dissapointing considering the high standards of the rest of the album, but whose lyrics provide the perfect closer. This is a song of progression through time, and maybe looking towards the future, possibly hinting this may not be their last album, despite what has been said. We can all dream at least.
9/10
Listen to the full album here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVyxRNc_gTs
The People's Key track listing:
1. Firewall
2. Shell Games
3. Jejune Stars
4. Approximate Sunlight
5. Haile Selassie
6. A Machine Spiritual (In the People’s Key)
7. Triple Spiral
8. Beginner's Mind
9. Ladder Song
10. One For You, One For Me
