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CASSADAGA
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Other than a handful of live appearances and the release of a collection of B-sides & rarities, Bright Eyes kept mostly out of sight last year after the busy 2005 which saw the simultaneous release of the sister albums I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. The band stayed tucked away in various studios around the country in 2006, and resurface with their most confident work so far–Cassadaga–an album full of soaring strings and female harmonies that feels almost buoyant in comparison to previous releases.
Once tagged "rock's boy genius" by the music press, Conor Oberst turned 27 earlier this year and even without that in mind, it's hard to listen to Cassadaga without hearing a newfound sophistication to the Bright Eyes sound. Producer, multi-instrumentalist and permanent band member Mike Mogis has crafted a swirling, euphonious record, at times bursting with bombastic confidence and country swagger, and at others loose-limbed and mesmeric. Trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, a Bright Eyes player since 2003 and its third permanent member, adds cinematic string arrangements and cascading countermelodies.
While many latched onto the smattering of political commentary in 2005's I'm Wide Awake..., Cassadaga is less blunt in its depiction of youthful exasperation in the Bush era. References to Hurricane Katrina, holy wars and polar ice-caps may crop up, but they're buried deep amongst the ruminations on life, love, history, death and the afterlife.
