Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 21, 2020 | |||
Recorded | 2019 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 54:45 | |||
Label | Dead Oceans | |||
Producer | Bright Eyes | |||
Bright Eyes chronology | ||||
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Singles from Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was | ||||
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Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was is the tenth studio album by American band Bright Eyes. The album marked the band's first release in nearly a decade, following The People's Key in 2011. It was released by Dead Oceans on August 21, 2020, and it was their first album not released by Saddle Creek Records. The album was recorded at Electro-Vox and Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and ARC Studios in Omaha, Nebraska.
The album features musical contributions from drummer Jon Theodore and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who had previously recorded The Mars Volta's 2003 debut studio record De-loused in the Comatorium together.
Down in the Weeds was preceded by four singles: "Persona Non Grata", "Forced Convalescence", "One and Done", and "Mariana Trench". The album received favorable reviews from critics and peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200.
In 2009, Conor Oberst suggested that the next Bright Eyes album would be the band's last, after which he would retire the project. [1] [2] In February 2011, the band released their ninth studio album The People's Key . However, shortly thereafter Oberst told Rolling Stone that he was "definitely not making it official" as to whether the album would be the band's last. [3] The band performed their last show in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 21, 2011. [4] Bright Eyes went on an unofficial hiatus as members Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott each pursued different projects. [5] However, all three members remained in close contact with each other. Oberst, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California, lives next door to Mogis in Omaha and minutes away from Walcott in Los Angeles. [6] During the hiatus, Oberst released three solo albums: Upside Down Mountain (2014), Ruminations (2016), and Salutations (2017). Oberst also released a second Desaparecidos album, Payola (2015), and formed the indie rock project Better Oblivion Community Center with Phoebe Bridgers, releasing an eponymous album in 2019. In 2014, Mogis and Walcott composed the soundtrack for The Fault in Our Stars , based on the novel of the same name by John Green. During the hiatus, Mogis also provided musical and technical contributions to music by other artists, while Walcott provided musical and songwriting contributions to other artists' music and scored other films. Walcott also worked as a touring member of other musical groups, including Broken Bells and Red Hot Chili Peppers. [7] [6]
In the November 2016 issue of Uncut , Oberst expressed doubt as to whether or not The People's Key would be the band's final album and revealed that Bright Eyes "still talk about doing another record." [8] Bright Eyes' return began at a Christmas party in 2017 at Walcott's house. Oberst pitched the idea of regrouping Bright Eyes to Walcott, and he and Walcott huddled in a bathroom and called Mogis over FaceTime, who was Christmas shopping at a mall in Omaha. Mogis agreed to regroup, and the band began working again. It was a collaborative effort, with the band writing material for the album in Omaha and California. The album was recorded in 2019 [9] at Mogis' ARC Studios in Omaha, and at Electro-Vox Recording Studios and Capitol Studios, both located in Los Angeles. [5] The album also features contributions from drummer Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta, Queens of the Stone Age, One Day as a Lion) and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. [10] [7]
The album is dedicated to Oberst's brother Matt, who died in November 2016. [7] The album also comes in the aftermath of Oberst's divorce in 2017 from Corina Figueroa Escamilla, whom he was married to for seven years. However, she is featured speaking in Spanish on the album's opening track, "Pageturners Rag". [11]
On January 9, 2020, Bright Eyes teased a comeback on their social media accounts with a cryptic animation alongside the hashtag "#BrightEyes2020". [12] [13] On January 21, 2020, the band announced their return with a series of 2020 tour dates, their first live performances in nine years. The band scheduled performances in Tokyo in March, Los Angeles in May, New York City in June, and at England's End of the Road Festival in September. [14] They band also announced plans to release new music and revealed Bright Eyes had signed to Dead Oceans. [15] Before signing to Dead Oceans, Bright Eyes had released all of their studio albums on Saddle Creek Records. [5]
On February 18, 2020, Bright Eyes announced a North American tour for May–June 2020, supported by Lucy Dacus, Lavender Diamond, and Japanese Breakfast. They also announced a UK and European tour for August–September 2020. [16] On April 24, 2020, Bright Eyes cancelled most of the scheduled North American tour dates and postponed the remaining dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17] [18] On May 23, 2020, the band cancelled dates on the scheduled UK and European tour and postponed the remaining dates to 2021. [19] The band performed the first show of their tour on July 27, 2021, at Artpark Amphitheatre in Lewiston, New York. [20]
"Persona Non Grata" was released as the album's lead single on March 24, 2020. [21] [22] "Forced Convalescence" was released as the second single on April 21, 2020. [23] [24] "One and Done" was released as the third single on May 27, 2020. [25] [26] [27] "Mariana Trench" was released as the fourth single on June 22, 2020, and was performed the same day by Bright Eyes on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . [28] The album's title, artwork, tracklisting, and release date were also announced the same day. [29] Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was was released by Dead Oceans on August 21, 2020. [30] [31] The band gave a track-by-track breakdown of the album for Apple Music. [32]
The album's artwork was created by Zack Nipper, a former Saddle Creek Records graphic designer, who designed the cover artwork for most of Bright Eyes' previous albums. Nipper previously won the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for his work on the Bright Eyes album Cassadaga (2007). [5]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10 [33] |
Metacritic | 81/100 [34] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [35] |
The A.V. Club | A− [36] |
Exclaim! | 6/10 [37] |
The Independent | [38] |
NME | [39] |
Paste | 8.2/10 [40] |
Pitchfork | 7.4/10 [41] |
Q | [42] |
Rolling Stone | [43] |
Uncut | 9/10 [44] |
Down in the Weeds received favorable reviews from music critics. The album has a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 24 reviews. [34]
Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote that "it continues Bright Eyes' evolution without skipping a beat, and manages to be one of their stronger records in the process." [35] Bud Scoppa of Uncut gave the album a 9/10, praising the "opulent orchestrations and chorales rendering Oberst's tremulous outpourings that much more existentially fraught." [44] Tom Doyle of Q praised the album's "smart audio trickery and intriguing atmosphere" as well as Oberst's vocals for being "less nervy and whiny and more restrained and affecting". [42]
Tom Hull was less impressed, giving the album a B-plus and finding its extensive musical accomplishment ostensibly significant but not entirely worth exploring. [45]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Double J | The 50 best albums of 2020 | 21 | |
NBHAP | 50 Best Albums of 2020 | 9 | |
Slant Magazine | The 50 Best Albums of 2020 | 40 | |
The Sunday Times | The best albums of 2020 | 5 | |
Uncut | The Top 75 Albums of the Year | 45 | |
Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2020 | 50 |
All lyrics are written by Conor Oberst, except where noted; all music is composed by Bright Eyes
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pageturners Rag" | 3:57 | |
2. | "Dance and Sing" | 4:30 | |
3. | "Just Once in the World" |
| 3:28 |
4. | "Mariana Trench" | 3:41 | |
5. | "One and Done" | 4:53 | |
6. | "Pan and Broom" | 2:52 | |
7. | "Stairwell Song" | 3:40 | |
8. | "Persona Non Grata" | 3:32 | |
9. | "Tilt-A-Whirl" | 2:20 | |
10. | "Hot Car in the Sun" | 2:27 | |
11. | "Forced Convalescence" | 4:08 | |
12. | "To Death's Heart (In Three Parts)" | 5:25 | |
13. | "Calais to Dover" | 4:17 | |
14. | "Comet Song" | 5:35 | |
Total length: | 54:45 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [9]
Bright Eyes
Additional musicians
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [52] | 67 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [53] | 21 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [54] | 34 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [55] | 62 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [56] | 8 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [57] | 6 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [58] | 32 |
UK Albums (OCC) [59] | 22 |
US Billboard 200 [60] | 36 |
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [61] | 4 |
US Folk Albums (Billboard) [62] | 4 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [63] | 9 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [64] | 3 |
Bright Eyes is an American indie rock band founded by singer-songwriter and guitarist Conor Oberst. It consists of Oberst, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis, arranger, composer and trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, and a rotating line-up of collaborators drawn primarily from Omaha's indie music scene.
Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground is the fourth studio album by Bright Eyes and the 46th release of Saddle Creek Records. The band made its national television debut in support of the album, performing "The Trees Get Wheeled Away" on the Late Show with David Letterman.
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Every Day and Every Night is an EP by American indie rock band Bright Eyes. It became the 30th release by Saddle Creek Records on November 1, 1999.
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Desaparecidos was an American punk rock band from Omaha, Nebraska founded by singer/guitarist Conor Oberst.
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.
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Michael Riley Mogis is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios. Mogis currently runs ARC in downtown Omaha.
Motion Sickness: Live Recordings is a live album by Bright Eyes. Documenting the I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning tours from the first half of 2005, Motion Sickness is a compilation of live tracks, including covers of Feist and Elliott Smith. It comes with a 24-page booklet featuring an extensive tour diary written by Jason Boesel.
Nate Walcott is an American musical composer, arranger, pianist, keyboardist, and trumpeter. He has composed the scores for several feature-length films, including 2014's The Fault in Our Stars. He is a member of the band Bright Eyes, and has played in Conor Oberst's Mystic Valley Band and with singer-songwriter M. Ward. Between 2016 and 2019, Walcott was the touring pianist and keyboard player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, during their The Getaway World Tour.
Four Winds is an EP by the indie rock band Bright Eyes, that was released on March 6, 2007. The title track is the first single from their album Cassadaga. The other 5 tracks are exclusive b-sides from the 2006 recording sessions. It is marketed as being "quietly enchanting" and including "a wandering country charm and all of the story-telling seductiveness of earlier work. The song "Four Winds" was ranked #5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.
Cassadaga is the eighth studio album by Bright Eyes, released in the UK on April 9, 2007, and in the US on April 10. Around 25 to 30 songs were recorded in 2006, with 13 of these appearing on the final track list. The album is named after the town of Cassadaga, Florida. Z Berg of the Like, Sherri DuPree and Stacy King of Eisley, and singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata all appear on this album. The first single, "Four Winds", was released on March 6, 2007, taken from the Four Winds EP, which contains five B-sides not on Cassadaga.
Conor Oberst is the fourth solo studio album by Conor Oberst, of the band Bright Eyes, which was released on August 4, 2008 by Merge Records. The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #37 and reached #15 on the Billboard Top 200. It sold 98,000 copies in the US as of August 2009.
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Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band is an American band consisting of Conor Oberst and his backing band. The band is composed of Nik Freitas (guitar), Taylor Hollingsworth (guitar), Macey Taylor (bass), Nate Walcott (keyboards/organ) and Jason Boesel (drums). The band was formed to back Oberst on his 2008 solo album but soon evolved into a band of its own with all members singing and providing songs for 2009's Outer South.
Monsters of Folk is the self-titled first and only studio album by American indie rock band Monsters of Folk, a group that consists of the artists Jim James, Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and Mike Mogis. Originally slated for release in 2010, the album was released through Shangri-La Music and Rough Trade on September 22, 2009. "Dear God " samples Trevor Dandy's 1970 gospel song "Is There Any Love."
The People's Key is the ninth studio album by American band Bright Eyes. The album was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska at ARC Studios, produced by Mike Mogis, and engineered by Mogis and Andy LeMaster. The album was released on February 15, 2011, lead singer Conor Oberst's 31st birthday, by Saddle Creek Records. Prior to its official release, the album was available to stream online in its entirety, as part of NPR's "First Listen" series.
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is the sixth studio album by American band Bright Eyes, released on January 25, 2005 by Saddle Creek Records.
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