Bright Eyes - Four Winds EP

I don't envy Conor Oberst right now. After creating a national stir in 2005, generating cries of "the new Bob Dylan" as well as "shitty emo pity party," his forthcoming, and now imminent LP, Cassadaga, holds a lot of career weight for the (now) New Yorker. No one knew what chemicals Conor had been mixing back at the lab, until finally he gave the world a taster scoop with Four Winds EP.

Outside of the opening title track, the Four Winds EP is made up of b-sides from the Cassadaga recordings, and unfortunately it ends up playing like a jumbled collection of lost songs. While Four Winds sticks pretty close to I'm Wide Awake in sound, Conor seems to be moving towards alt-country in his delivery. While I mostly cringe at the term "alt-country," Bright Eyes is able to pull it off with a sound similar to My Morning Jacket. However, seeing that Jim James has a guest spot on the album, this is no great revelation.

"Four Winds," the title track, is the obvious standout, and brings new hope to Cassadaga that the "Endless Entertainment" leak had mildly shaken. It's a well crafted tune with a foot tapping beat and patent Oberst lyrics (which I love - for the record).

You can buy the EP on March 6th. It's definitely worth the 4 or 5 dollars for "Four Winds," and another gem called "Cartoon Blues."

[www] Bright Eyes - Four Winds

Cassadaga Tracklist:
01 Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)
02 Four Winds
03 If the Brakeman Turns My Way
04 Hot Knives
05 Make a Plan to Love Me
06 Soul Singer in a Session Band
07 Classic Cars
08 Middleman
09 Cleanse Song
10 No One Would Riot for Less
11 Coat Check Dream Song
12 I Must Belong Somewhere
13 Lime Tree

Tour Dates:
02/27 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
02/28 Somerville, MA - Somerville Theatre
03/02 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03/03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03/05 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03/07 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
03/08 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
03/09 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03/10 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03/11 Seattle, WA - Showbox
03/22 Oslo, Norway - Compolite
03/24 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
03/26 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
03/27 Cologne, Germany - Gloria
03/30 Paris, France - Cafe de la Danse
03/31 Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Melkweg