New Music: Conor Oberst – "Danny Callahan"

Bright Eyes and bushy-tailed
photo by Jay Morrison

They say you have your whole life to make your first record. Conor Oberst started cranking out Bright Eyes albums as soon as he was out of diapers, so he may have missed out on some important formative years. No matter — he’s here now. “Danny Callahan,” like Cassadaga before it (let’s not pretend dude isn’t Bright Eyes and this isn’t a Bright Eyes album, alright), showcases a musician who finally sounds like an adult, one who pays as much attention to the subtleties of his music as he once did the drama. He’s also getting more and more rootsy, a direction I can’t help but applaud. As Neil Young once asked, are you ready for the country?

Conor Oberst – “Danny Callahan”: mp3

(Conor Oberst is due 8/5 on Merge; when this album gets great reviews, can everybody go back and listen to Ryan Adams’ Cold Roses again?)

Previously: Highway Conor Oberst Revisited

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