MP3: Bright Eyes' "Shell Games" Is the Beginning of Goodbye

Although Conor Oberst is far too prolific to ever stop putting out records, he managed to put three years of space between entries in his flagship enterprise. Bright Eyes is back with a vengeance on the first single off The People's Key, "Shell Games." With a production style on this...

By Reed Fischer

December 22, 2010

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Although Conor Oberst is far too prolific to ever stop putting out records, he managed to put three years of space between entries in his flagship enterprise. Bright Eyes is back with a vengeance on the first single off The People's Key, "Shell Games." With a production style on this track that marries Digital Ash in a Digital Urn's synthesizer dramatizers with the stadium bombast that bands like Arcade Fire borrow from the Boss, this track suggests a final album framework as epic as Jay-Z's Black Album. (Fans can pay their respects in person at Bright Eyes' performance at the Fillmore Miami on March 2.)

"I'm still angry with no reason to be," Oberst notes. Of course, we all know how long Mr. Carter stayed out of the game, so maybe some midperiod (dude is 30 already) finality can rustle out some more gems in the years to come -- no matter what name they're released under.

Bright Eyes. Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700

Washington Ave., Miami Beach. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets cost

$42 via livenation.com. Call 305-673-7300, or visit fillmoremb.com.

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