Video Review: Bright Eyes – Four Winds
Connor Oberst, however whiney and misunderstood, you felt would eventually find a niche out of sheer prolificacy. His 2005 effort I’m Wide Awake, Its Morning seemed, at the time, a happy accident- a departure from his typical Emo/Folk ramblings and a venturing risk into the Country territory of his Omaha upbringing. Admittedly, if he was going out on a limb, it was a pretty thick one. He recruited famed siren Emmylou Harris for backing vocals and with tunes like the Cash-soaked “Another Travelin’ Song” Oberst was a padlock fit for making country marketable to the underground.
Cassadaga (hitting stores and iTunes tomorrow), Connor’s latest undertaking, is named after a city in Florida that has the highest population of clairvoyants. While on a recent episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered, Oberst said he was given a reading in Cassadaga that gave him peace of mind about his alignment with the universe. It doesn’t take a psychic to see that his contentment has translated positively to his songwriting and style choice.
The first single from the album and the inspiration for his last EP “Four Winds” is an obvious standout from the first play. Featuring amazing fiddle player Anton Patsner (who Oberst discovered playing metal cover songs on violin outside a Cursive concert in San Francisco), Bright Eyes’ polarizing lyrics find shelter in sweet Opry-worthy harmonies and the quintessential backwoods jangle of his own acoustic guitar. I highly doubt this song would get him pelted off the stage in any club in the nation, except maybe the one in the video.
