New Bright Eyes Album

There's a lot of hype surrounding the new dual-release from Bright Eyes and some of it is well-deserved. I bought both, but so far I've only listened to I'm Wide Awake It's Morning. If writing songs that are strong enough and emotional and poetic enough to get away with not being able to sing is the mark of the next Bob Dylan, then Oberst is it. This isn't quite side 2 of Lifted, but his strengths are all evident. But so are his weaknesses. He's a terrible singer and, while he pulls that off and makes it kinda charming on his own, it's a disaster when he sings with someone who can carry a tune. Instead of choosing Emmylou Harris who is a fine singer, perhaps Oberst should have asked Marianne Faithful, who has turned her own vocal shortcomings into her strength as a performer.