Bright Eyes

Item: Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Author: Ryan Cooke

Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

(2002)

Reviewed by Ryan Cooke

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Saddle Creek RecordsDecapolisFebruary 2003

folk indie rock singer-songwriter

Bright Eyes is figure headed by Omaha, Nebraska's Conor Oberst who has been writing and recording under the name since he was 13. "Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep your Ear to the Ground", their fourth full-length, was released in August of 2002 and holds a spot on my and many other Top Ten of 2002 lists.

Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst is best known for his drunken odes to lost love and self-loathing but this latest release finds him somewhat departing from the "boy meets girl" that so many in the music industry rely on. While a majority of the album tends to keep in Oberst's tradition of passionate youthful angst, he has channeled it towards spiritual and political issues with songs like "Waste of Paint" and the ten minute long "Let's Not **** Ourselves (To Love and to be Loved)," both of which are standout tracks. That said, his commentary on relationships is, as always, far more insightful than the average lament of an end to young love.

The composition of the songs does not cover much in the way of new ground. The idea of interchanging piano and guitar driven folk music is nothing new, which is why there is an ever present comparison to Bob Dylan. While the comparison is there to be made, one can hardly say he is trying to rip off the legend. The young songwriter has both created a niche in and continued to improve at his trade. Most importantly he continues to keep his sound fresh, interchanging powerful orchestral parts, almost empty sounding acoustic moments and even the occasional "feel good" song (such as the ever-positive "Bowl of Oranges"). Despite the fact that Oberst often releases his best work on his EPs, Lifted is a solid album with little filler despite the release being more than 70 minutes long (several of those minutes are a tape of someone walking through leaves and a guy and girl talking in a car). It is a must have for Bright Eyes fans and a good introduction to someone wanting to learn more about them.

B+