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Bright Eyes
"Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning"

By: Jacob Nelson

      The new Bright Eyes albums, though contrasting immensely in style, share similar themes. Although both have excellent songs, the acoustically driven I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is a better album overall. The two releases mark the fifth and sixth LPs by Bright Eyes, the indie rock band led by 24 year-old Conor Oberst. Oberst's music, filled with a wide array of instruments playing to the melody of his sorrowful voice, sounds like what you would get if you took Jesse Lacey, the lead singer of pop punk band Brand New, and gave him an orchestra.

      The two albums, Digital Ash In a Digital Urn, and I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, were released simultaneously Jan. 25. I'm Wide Awake has 10 acoustic songs, and although it lags at the beginning, becomes an excellent album. "At the Bottom of Everything," the albumÕs first track, begins with an unnecessary minute and a half story, told by Conor Oberst, singer and songwriter, which concludes with a four-beat count and starting the music.

      The first two tracks are boring, but the third, "Old Soul Song (For the New World Order)" is one of the best on the album. It's catchy, the lyrics are great, and Oberst gets very enthusiastic and powerful at the end of it, which makes an already good song better. The songs after, though very slow, are still enjoyable. They're relaxing and melodious and, as always with Bright Eyes, they have excellent lyrics.

      The last two songs on the album, "Poison Oak" and "Road to Joy" are the other two best songs, sharing the title with the above-mentioned "Old Soul Song." Both are very catchy in a soft, soothing way you'd never expect, and both have powerful endings with emotional vocals. Digital Ash is I'm Wide Awake's musical opposite. The 12-track album utilizes unconventional electrical instruments to recreate 80's synth-pop. Songs like "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)," "Hit the Switch," and "Easy/Lucky/Free" are the results of this style used successfully. Combining catchy melodies with crude, electric instruments in these songs makes them unique with curiously pleasing style.

      "Arc of Time (Time Code)," "Down in a Rabbit Hole" and "Ship in a Bottle," however, are songs where this combination goes wrong. "Arc of Time (Time Code)" has a drum heavy melody that sounds similar to an animated 80's P.S.A. that sang to kids about recycling. Although the instruments and melody of "Down in a Rabbit Hole" are fine, the tempo is too slow and the song lags on. "Ship in a Bottle" is by far the most frustrating track on the album. The song has a great melody and Oberst sings it excellently, yelling out the chorus in a powerfully pleasing voice. However, following the first chorus there's a musical interlude containing a baby crying hysterically for over 40 seconds. This does not fit and, because it's right in the middle, the whole song is ruined.

      The lyrical themes of both albums are similar. Both albums contain verses about loneliness and choruses about drinking, like "Poison Oak" on I'm Wide Awake and "Hit the Switch" on Digital Ash. However, an apparent lyrical difference between the two albums is that Digital Ash deals more with Oberst's exploration of consciousness and death while I'm Wide Awake is a less morbid examination of his friendships and his life.