Under his weepy-boy alias Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst displayed dexterity and maturity belying his young years over the course of five indie-folk (and even a bit of electronica) LPs and a couple of EPs. Calm down, take off your bedroom critic’s fedora and consider for a minute that Oberst was 18 when he released Letting of the Happiness and just 20 when he crafted the masterful Fevers and Mirrors.

Every generation needs its Chris Carrabba, and Oberst filled the role aptly. His overly emotive lyrics and “hold this - it’s my heart and it’s bleeding sadness” whimper made Bright Eyes’ musings the default Myspace headline for hormonal teenage girls everywhere. It may have cost him critical cache, but Oberst’s commercial appeal soared.
Now a ripe old 28-year-old, the Omaha native has set aside the puberity-driven acoustic emo of Bright Eyes in favor of the more interesting and more mature folk-pop of Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band. Accordingly, he’s wandered away from simplistic-leaning indie Saddle Creek and settled in at genre-defining tastemaker Merge Records to release Conor Oberst, 12 delicate but ballsy, rollicking trips through heartland Americana and that creepy no man’s land between youth angst and adult disaffection.

I liked the feel of this record - slower, folkier numbers are less awkwardly obvious than Bright Eyes heartbreakers like “Lua” and the upbeat tunes are stripped down to flaunt their energy and songwriting, a la Langhorne Slim - that I bought it on vinyl even though I’d been serviced with it by Merge.

MP3: Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band - NYC Gone, Gone

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