Picking back up on the electric guitars and synthesizers of 2005’s Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, The People’s Key strays away from the folksy aesthetics of recent works, seeing Oberst return to the morbid and fragile attitude that made both fans and the media dub him the next Bob Dylan. Although the album returns to its familiar roots, the ability to grow and mature to such lengths on this album, while still maintaining the Bright Eyes moniker, is a tough feat to accomplish. But Oberst seems to barely bat an eyelash, smoothly transitioning from the usual songs about depression and heartbreak into the larger recurring themes of death, religion, and acceptance. These topics may seem all too familiar to the listener, but Oberst takes a refreshing step in his ideology, finding new peace and resolution with these uncertainties. On “The Ladder Song,” Oberst remains calm, snubbing religion and allowing life to come as it may, “Fall asleep reading science fiction/ I want to ride in your silver ship/ Let Jesus hang and Buddha sit.”

The album also borrows many Rastafarian ideas, from the song “Haile Selassie,” to the closing line of the album: “you and me that is an awful lie/ It’s I and I” (I and I being a Rastafarian term that means the oneness of God and all people).  Said Oberst of the Rastafarian themes embedded in the album, “the symbolism seemed very potent to me, and very appropriate.”  The growth is again shown here, as Oberst has branched out his philosophies to other cultures.

The overall sound and feel of the album reflects Bright Eyes artistic growth and maturity, as everything within the album has been cut down in an effort to remain focused and concise. From the names and lengths of the tracks, to the albums constant exploration of the theme of life and death in each song, the album shows a dramatic growth in artistic maturity. This being Bright Eyes’ final album, it’s almost as if Oberst heard critics attacks on his vague elongated rants, and their doubts of his artistic capability, and decided to put together one fully focused album on his way out, to silence any doubters.  He succeeds.

It has been a year since their EP, Go Outside, dropped amid a flurry of coverage from various music blogs. Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion comprise Cults and you will hear them both in most tracks. The latter half, Brian, provides the instrumentation. The precious few tracks were enough to perplex while making most people eagerly await more. They began experimenting with the unique mix of indie pop, lo-fi, and noise while attending New York University, and abruptly rose to prominence as their debut hit the markets.

The best way to understand the sound of their debut album is to imagine the delirium and chaos of a day that transforms into an excellent night at the pub. There are twists and turns, doubts and fear, but at the end of the day we’re glad to have left the comfort of home. Tracks alternate from a variety of influences, from the lo-fi scene of the early nineties—as well as some modern noise pop from influences such as the also-rising Smith Westerns—to an airy sound reminiscent of the pop melodies of the sixties. Overall the instrumentation remains mostly cohesive—no wild curve balls here, especially if you’re familiar with the EP, which tended to have a much more delightful “unpolished” sound. However, the album still remains a pretty solid statement, an interesting new sound for an interesting new band. It’s definitely worth the listen.

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

album from Iron & Wine and from the very beginning avid fans of his music will notice a drastic difference in style.

The album heavily institutes the electric sound Sam experimented with in The Shepherd’s Dog and takes it in a new direction with Beam’s traditional vivid imagery collaborating with electrified tunes that will stick with you.

The first track starts off with Sam’s voice heavily distorted with a droning guitar and synth beats in the background which melts into a beautiful piano laden piece. In it Sam sings about the disreputable people and the people in love he sees, as he takes a walk through an unnamed town, which are representations of the constant themes throughout this album. We see a millionaire pissing on the lawn, car crashes and sickness; at the same time we hear of prisoners asking people to join them in song, hearts carved into stone, and lovers whispering to each other. In “Godless Brother in Love” we hear a continuation of this idea about a man whose “lost” brother is in love with a woman who, despite the singer seeing as a beautiful person physically, also sees as someone who is not worth his time or attention, who lives in the bars and can barely raise her children who loves to “curse every bird in the air”.

Musically, this is the most eclectic Iron & Wine album to date. The mood of the album is ever changing, going through highs and lows, never really staying consistent. The style of music follows suit and jumps around just as much as the atmosphere.  In “Rabbit Will Run” we hear a style that has never been touched on: an animalistic jungle-like beat layered with heavy distortion, whistling akin to birds, xylophones beating out a frantic pace that parallels the feeling the lyrics induce of a man on the run and his constant attempt to get away. Another example of this new style is the initial track as mentioned earlier with its synth loops, distorted voices, and simplistic drumming with a very minimalistic style. In “Monkeys Uptown” we see another side of the new Iron & Wine with this psychedelic tune featuring xylophones, more synth effects, temple blocks and a guitar solo. He weaves a musical narrative that is highly catchy and fun to dance to which changes dramatically in the next track “Half Moon”, a laid back country ballad, reminiscent of Alison Kraus, that tells the story of a man and woman walking home, the man telling his lover that if he were to lose her he would not be able to go on.

The production value of this album is much greater than his earlier releases. He utilizes a lot of studio effects to achieve the sounds he wants, especially in tracks like “Walking Far From Home” and “Glad Man Singing”, both of which have a lot of post-recording effects on his voice, as well as layering of voices in the background to achieve a choral effect. The album is definitely more fine-tuned than his earliest material, which was recorded on a 4-track, but it does not detract from the experience.  He uses the technology to his advantage to spruce up “Half Moon” and “Godless Brother in Love”, two tracks that are more like his older catalogue in the sense that it uses simple instrumentation such as just Sam on guitar, or Sam plus a few other people performing on say, a drum set and bass.

Despite the common references to the heavy themes of love and hardship, there are some more amusing tracks scattered throughout the album.  Sam Beam pokes fun at his success as a former independent musician (he’s now with Warner Bros. Records) on the track “Me and Lazarus”, despite not being very well known, “never made the local news” he sings. “Big Burned Hand” is a more personal and out-there song about the goddess of love and the god of war coming down and trying to force the singer into making some decisions, neither of which all too pleasing. Overall, the record is a great new direction in the artistic canon of Sam Beam, a man who initially built his fan base on his simple acoustic guitar and vocal pieces.  He has followed the tracks of Dylan by transitioning into an electric style and while surely making old fans uneasy, his new and eclectic sound proves to stand tall with the rest of his work.

4 out of 5 Stars

It’s been two years since Nelly’s failed attempt at a comeback with Brass Knuckles, his lowest selling album of all time. Ever since the summer of 2009, Nelly has been back in his Los Angeles studio laying down tracks for his album 5.0 that was released on November 16. For those of you that anticipated a return of the old Country Grammar, this album is yet another disappointment. Nelly was never known for his skillful raps, but with his catchy lyrics and lively beats he made some chart topping hits like “Hott in Here”, “Pimp Juice” and “Country Grammar”. With 5.0 Nelly actually raps in only about half the songs, while the other half sound like poorly produced R&B tracks in which an out of tune Nelly attempts a Bing Crosby croon.

Like Brass Knuckles, 5.0 features a handful of artists including Chris Brown, T Pain, T.I., and DJ Khaled, in which Nelly tries to trade off bad songs for mainstream publicity. However, there is one surprise song on the album. “1000 Stacks” features Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy and actually shows some glimpses of the old Nelly. The songs “Liv Tonight” and “Move That Body” will also most likely be successful in the club scene as they are up tempo and fun. “Just a Dream” was also Nelly’s highest charting single since his 2005 “Grillz”. Other than those several tracks the rest of the album is a failure. The biggest disappointment would have to be Nelly’s collaboration with Kelly Rolland who appears in the song “Gone” as a part two to their hit “Dilemma”. Nelly just can’t sing and their connection isn’t anywhere near where it used to be. As Nelly turns thirty six and puts out his second consecutive disastrous album one has to ask, is it time for him to put down the mic for good?