Laden with reputation and back catalogue, the long overdue return of BRIGHT EYES is well deserving of the “hotly anticipated” tag. The early records were eerie, deeply personal and disturbed, and claims of a return to this dark and exploratory form after 2007’s ‘Cassadaga’ took a more traditional, folk approach have pricked up the ears of many that didn’t quite connect with it in the way that the seminal double release of ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’ and ‘Digital Ash In A Digital Urn’ or did.
In over-simplified terms, ‘The People’s Key’ is to ‘Digital Ash In A Digital Urn’ what ‘Cassagada’ was to ‘I’m Wake Awake, It’s Morning’. Meandering through electronic bathed folk wistfully with beautiful orchestration of the synthetic and the acoustic, Bright Eyes have delivered what no-one could reasonably call a bad or even average sounding record, but in the very same way ‘Cassaga’ did, it doesn’t quite feel as intimate or personal as those records that came before it.
The imperfection in the early Bright Eyes records, in both Oberst’s vocals and the person he presents himself to be in the subject matter itself, was where they became really special. The recent gloss has, ironically, been the thing that takes the sparkle off a little.
That said, the album’s absolutely crammed with enviable soundscapes, and songs like ‘Shell Games’, ‘Tribal Spiral’ and ‘One For You, One For Me’ are perfect examples of just how developed Oberst is as a songwriter. There’s a few moments on ‘The People’s Key’ that the songs falls a little into the self-parodical, but it’s more than forgiven considering how long the band have existed, and for every one of those moments there’s a fresh idea to accompany it.
If this does turn out to be swansong for Bright Eyes Oberst hinted at, then it’s anything but going out on a whimper. Oberst is one of the most gifted songwriters of his generation, and though ‘The People’s Key’ isn’t the biggest jewel in the crown, it’s certainly earned a place among them.
TOM AYLOTT