Governor’s Ball? I thought it was a music festival on the east coast! But apparently it is also a new song by Conor Oberst from his upcoming album ‘Upside Down Mountain’ due May 20th on Nonesuch Records. I am not sure if Conor is talking about the festival, but what else could it be?However, Brooklyn Vegan noticed that, if he was really talking about it, the song should be entitled Governors ball without the apostrophe! Ha! People never pay attention to these apostrophes anymore… the cynical comment ‘can’t believe he raped the name of the festival like that’ made me laugh for a minute,… just when I was starting to forget about this sad episode,… please leave Conor alone with this rape story!! No he won’t be left alone anymore, and that’s a problem.
Anyway, you will feel immediately at home with this new song and will recognize a typical Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst soundscape, I mean this voice is quite a signature to begin with, then this full layered and rootsy orchestration, with organ, powerful horns and back-up voices, nail this signature all over the song. Musically, it’s quite an upbeat tune, super melodic after a thunderous beginning, with this ‘whyyy-yyy not’ chorus in repeat, and this horn section ending the song on the bright side….I liked it as soon as I heard it of course, but I am not sure it brings anything new to Oberst’s giant catalogue. Even the lyrics sound classic-Conor, he may effectively be talking about some kid lost at a festival and of course the line ‘The girl with Klonopin eyes’ will please anybody found of Conor’s imagery.
Even Conor himself admits there is nothing really innovative with this record, ‘This is a return to an earlier way I wrote,’ he declared while talking about the new songs, ‘It’s more intimate or personal, if you will. Even if all my songs come from the same place, you make different aesthetic decisions along the way. For me, language is a huge part of why I make music. I’m not the greatest guitar player or piano player—I’m not the greatest singer, either—but I feel if I can come up with melodies I like that are fused with poetry I’m proud of, then that’s what I bring to the table. That’s why I’m able to do this.’
After ‘Hundreds of Ways’ it’s the second track of the album shared before the official release, and the album is available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive print featuring the album art – a nice painting entitled The Creation of the Bulls by Ian Felice of the Felice Brothers – or via iTunes, both with an instant download of the tracks ‘Hundreds of Ways’ and ‘Governor’s Ball’.