Conor Oberst Outer South Review

Just nine months after his self-titled 'solo' debut appeared, the increasingly skittish Conor Oberst has had another change of heart, with his backing musicians on that album not merely given equal billing on Outer South but, unwisely, handed nearly half of the songwriting duties. The result is an overlong, studiously retro album that – despite some winning songs – suggests the prolific Oberst is spreading his talent dangerously thin.

The album’s first half is dominated by breezy, canter-paced country. Predictably, Oberst provides the best tunes (the playful Slowly (Oh So Slowly) and the infectious, stutter-riffed Nikorette), although Nik Freitas'Johnny Cash homage Big Black Nothing has charm, and the fizzy electronic tinge to Taylor Hollingsworth's Air Mattress provides welcome relief from the vintage sounds around it. Still, it's hard to shake the impression that the band enjoyed recording these saloon bar songs more than the rest of us will enjoy listening to them.

At least that's an improvement on much of the second half: on songs like the squalling, incoherent agitprop of Roosevelt Room and the aimless stroll that is Eagle On A Pole it doesn’t sound like even the band are having much fun. The two low moments come with Oberst's Ten Women, an ''I done my woman wrong'' blues pastiche which aims for world-weary but just sounds tired, and Hollingsworth's trite closer, Snake Hill, a string of clichés barely connected by a melody.

Of course, any album presided over by someone as lavishly talented as Oberst is going to have stand-out moments. To All The Lights In The Windows features one of the album's most graceful melodies, as well as smart, scathing lyrics, while the hushed, funereal White Shoes is utterly beautiful, stripped down to a murmuring guitar and an aching, intimate vocal. These songs rank amongst his finest yet.

It's far too early to say that Oberst's talent is on the wane: after all, it's only two years since he released the eloquent, evocative Cassadaga as Bright Eyes: a truly great record. But we can probably wait a bit longer for his next record, for his sake, our sake and, most of all, for the sake of the music.