Conor Oberst - 'Conor Oberst' (Merge) Released 04/08/08

The delicate sounds of opener 'Cape Canaveral' are as genuine a piece of music as you're likely to come across all year. Drum-beats played on the backs of acoustic guitars, soothing sounds being played out of the front of them. The question is, have we heard this all before? Is Conor Oberst playing it safe?

To save you the hassle of finding out for yourself, the answer is he's simply having a good time. Testified in the laughter on 'Souled Out!!!' and the general don't-give-a-damn attitude that's leaking out of every song on the record. Oberst hasn't put himself under any pressure and in some cases that's worked brilliantly. Some will indeed enjoy this record a thousand times more than any Bright Eyes record, as risky a statement as that might sound.

But this lack of thought and this lack of concentration in some cases leaves the record without a spark. Although you might be getting all heated up over the album for a few listens, the magic will soon ware off. The reason? A lot of, in fact nearly all of 'Conor Oberst', can be replicated. This record is in fact a replica of many sounds we've heard over the decades. From the Dylan-esque delicacy of 'Cape Canaveral' to the Cash-esque 'I Don't Want To Die (in a hospital)’, although there’s a lot of appeal to be found in that and although it's even some of the most enjoyable stuff 2008's had to offer thus far, the word "special" should never be tagged next to any of it.

That's not to say that any of this solo-outing is predictable. In fact to many the least predictable outcome of this record was to hear Oberst laughing and having himself a good time. If you expected to be drowned in drones of sorrow and heartache, you bought the wrong record. From jazz-hands piano on 'Danny Callahan', the cheesy-lyric "there's nothing that the road cannot heal" playing itself out on 'Moab', this wasn't what most of us expected.

It doesn't unceasingly work in Oberst's favour - certainly not in the long run. Ten listens in and I'm tired to death of this record. This didn't occur with 'Cassadaga' nor any of his previous offerings. The reason for this most likely being the basic guitarist/bassist/drummer/multi-instrumentalist backing band line-up that in some cases make listens tedious and tiring. All the less, the energy that's flying out of 'I Don't Want to Die (in a hospital)' makes it all worth it - it's a vibrant, striking effort that still works its magic after those ten listens.

Equally impressive is the moving closer 'Milk Thistle'. The intention of it is to help you remember that Conor Oberst can still play it serious whilst encouraging a few tears from the vulnerable eyes of yours. It does the trick with ease and re-assures us all that this record was merely a well-earned break from our favourite singer-songwriter and now he's got this out of the way, he'll move onto the next work of genius to get us head-over-heels over.