Bright Eyes is the group of singer / songwriter Conor Oberst, who was born in 1980 in Omaha, Nebraska. Since the age of fourteen he has played in numerous local bands, but always 'his' Bright Eyes came first, of which he is in fact the only permanent member. He also plays in the emo band Desaparecidos, whose excellent CD Read Music / Speak Spanish was released in the spring of 2002. Less than six
… months later, Lifted, the fifth Bright Eyes album, was released. The first part of the album sounds pretty bare and lo-fi. After that there is more musical variation and he navigates between country, folk, rock and even heavily orchestral pop. That may sound way too ambitious and pretentious for a 22-year-old, but everything about this CD is just right. In thirteen tracks (more than 73 minutes) Oberst exposes his whole heart and soul to us. When he's angry, he spits his lyrics into the microphone full of venom. But when he's sad, he cries and wails in a way that can hardly leave you indifferent. In short: you either hate it or you love it, there is no middle way. (MvP)more
