One of the things that struck Oberst as he and the band went through twenty-plus years of music is that he may in fact have been writing the same song this whole time. Not sonically, of course, but conceptually. This last wave contains, in Noise Floor, early Bright Eyes songs so raw Oberst never even released them back in the day, as well as, in Cassadaga and The People’s Key, the band’s most polished and sophisticated albums. When Bright Eyes toured Cassadega they performed an epic 7 sold-out nights at NYC’s Town Hall. What’s more grown-up rock-star than that? And yet ...“Thematically those early songs are not that different than the songs I make now,” Oberst says, shaking his head. “There’s something affirming and disheartening about it. It’s like, have I really changed or grown? But maybe it’s just that I knew what I wanted to write about from the beginning."

Tracklist:

Mirrors and Fevers
I Will Be Grateful for This Day
Trees Get Wheeled Away
Drunk Kid Catholic
Spent on Rainy Days
The Vanishing Act
Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man
Blue Angels Air Show
Weather Reports
Seashell Tale
Bad Blood
Amy in the White Coat
Devil Town
I’ve Been Eating (For You)
Happy Birthday to Me (February 15)
Motion Sickness
Act of Contrition
Hungry For A Holiday
When The Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Again
Entry Way Song
It’s Cool, We Can Still Be Friends

UPC: 656605159430
Label: Dead Oceans
Release Date: 6.16.23
Format: Vinyl

Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) (Champagne Wave 2LP)