Album Review: Better Oblivion Community Center - Self-Titled
Better Oblivion Community Center is the brainchild of two indie folk musicians: Phoebe Bridgers, an artist with little material as of yet besides 2017's Stranger in the Alps, and Conor Oberst, a man of many names easily most recognizable as the writer and singer behind indie icon Bright Eyes. Oddly enough, however, this collaboration strays much further than acoustic lamentation, to the point where it more resembles a run-of-the-mill indie rock album than any of their solo projects.
This is but a minor hindrance to the record; even if its sound is somewhat unoriginal, the songs here more than make up for it between the emotive voices of Phoebe and Conor, belting out lyrics as poetic as they are poignant. Perhaps it can't quite hit the innovative highs of something like I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, but the addition of a partner to balance out Oberst's more dubious quirks lends this album a consistency he has yet to achieve by himself.
Still, it would be impossible to separate the sound here from its many influences; it’s not entirely clear how distinct the duo wants to sound from your standard indie rock fare. Much of what is present here would sound right at home on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, or Arcade Fire’s early work (this is a high compliment, even if it does betray a lack of originality). The farthest the duo gets from convention is in the synth-heavy tracks like Exception to the Rule, which are a welcome change of pace and executed quite well.
Meanwhile, cuts like Service Road and Forest Lawn are much more stripped back, with a rural nonchalance that hides the pain Conor clearly feels after the sudden death of his brother in 2016, a topic alluded to all over this album: "Always had a sense of humor/Still joked until the bitter end/All those threats he made, can't walk them back". The rumbling guitar underneath contrasts perfectly with Phoebe's backing vocals, portraying the complicated nature of losing someone who, in Conor's own words, "basically fucking drank himself to death".
The detailed yet still obscure lyrical style on these cuts and Chesapeake evokes Canadian legends The Tragically Hip; on the latter song, Conor and Phoebe paint the tender picture of a parking lot concert with poetic subtlety: "He broke a leg and the house came down/A smattering of applause/A silver moon and a cover song". Bridgers is by and large the more effective of the two when singing alone, but luckily they harmonize together elegantly, and do so for the majority of the album.
Sleepwalkin' opens with an allusion to the interesting tempo changes throughout the track before giving each member a verse to perform alone, Phoebe in particular shining with emotive crooning of lines like "We can never compromise/But fighting 'til the death keeps us alive". This pessimistic misery reappears on the next track Dylan Thomas, named for a Welsh poet who passed away after an alcoholic binge. It's abundantly clear why Conor would wish to title a song after him, and the desire to escape the misery of life is not relayed vaguely: "I'm getting greedy with this private hell/I'll go it alone, but that's just as well".
No matter what name it was released under, Better Oblivion Community Center is still very much a Conor Oberst record, and it very much wears its influences on its sleeve. But perhaps the partnership with someone as talented as Phoebe Bridgers was just what he needed to move past a tendency for self-absorbed melancholy. Despite having suffered a loss tragic enough to justify an album full of mourning, Conor channels his grief into a breathtaking work of art, and the last piece of wisdom he chooses to share is beautifully uplifting: "And if you're not feeling ready/There's always tomorrow".
8/10
Favourite Tracks: Dylan Thomas, Service Road, Dominos