Bright Eyes - 'The People's Key'

Saddle Creek; 2011

Our Take - 8.5

When I was a junior in highschool I dated a girl that listened to to music that I didn't even know existed; music by artists such as Elliott Smith, Rocky Votolato, Nick Drake and Bright Eyes to name a few.  I remember at the time thinking that most of them seemed overly sensitive, whiny even, with nothing really to talk about except themselves.  Without wanting to delve too deep into my flawed psyche at the time, Bright Eyes for me became the figurehead and my major argument against her "style" of music.  Upon reflection, this is probably because of how easy it is to focus on the persona of Conor O'berst-- Bright Eyes' ringleader.  His black hair always swept just-so over one eye, the line-toeing emoisms, reflective poetics, and that unmistakable yelp of a voice.  My opinions shifted quickly about many of the artists she loved but none so more than with Bright Eyes.  Her and I are long done, but I've carried Bright Eyes with me ever since.  

There has been so much written about Bright Eyes and probably more about O'berst.  In Bright Eyes' latest and last album, The People's Key, O'berst says it best, "It's been said we're post-everything," and it is true.  Whether we're talking about O'berst as a rustic soul singer, indie messiah, baby-faced hipster heartthrob, New Dylan, or any other number of descriptions that have found their way to print, one thing is certain: he manages to do it all.  

It has been four years since Cassadaga and O'berst has spent much of his time since couch-surfing across North America attempting to find himself.  After a couple of solo releases and a stint with the super group Monsters of Folk, O'berst returns to the Bright Eyes moniker with The People's Key-- a critically divisive return to form (Pitchfork 5.0 and NME 9 out of 10).  

It is hard to talk about the music on the album without comparing it to other Bright Eyes albums.  Consistency is what I think of often when thinking about the band, especially in terms of the approach.  With The People's Key, we get more of the same, a cohesive theme introduced in the introduction and joined to the first track, a clear vision, and a unique style.  This album continues to explore some of the same mysticism of Cassadaga but elaborates on this concept with the addition of Rastafarian philosophy and cosmic musings.  

Thematics aside, musically the album is great, but so are all (most?) Bright Eyes albums, so where does The People's Key fit in?  It takes a poppier, more electronic shift; this is evident in songs like "One for You, One for Me," and "Shell Games," arguably Bright Eyes poppiest song to date.  Opener "Firewall" is striking-- finger-picked Americana that builds and builds to catharsis with a distant pedal steel guitar, 80's synths, and pounding drums with accented snare work.

But it is in "Ladder Song" when the listener really starts to reflect on why they are fans.  Heartbreakingly simple, the song is contained to just O'berst and a piano. It is painfully close, real and reflective of all of the work Bright Eyes has done to this point.  It almost seems to signal the end of an era and it demonstrates just how much the band and Conor have evolved while maintaining a quintessential Bright Eyes sound.  As a listener, I have changed much over the years, but I know I'll always love Bright Eyes for the same reasons.