I’m not afraid of critics. I feel at peace in calling Bright Eyes the most important folk band of the 21st century, and I feel equally at peace by claiming their latest release only adds to their already outstanding legacy.

Their 2020 album Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was is in my top three favorite albums ever, and depending on the day, it can be ranked at the top of those three. Bearing that in mind, I was both excited and nervous to hear “Bells and Whistles,” the first single from their new album, but my goodness. What a banger. I’m not sure a day has gone by that I haven’t played it at least once.

“Bells and Whistles” is as strong of an opening track as one could hope for. It’s a fun and catchy regaling that laments, “expensive jokes and cheap thrills cost a lot.” Conor Oberst’s lyrics are rivaled only by his vocal performance. Raspy and shaking with emotion, Conor could’ve won a dozen Oscars had he chosen to become an actor. The script he’s written is, as usual, rich with clever imagery. It’s a more vivid image than Hollywood has to offer.

A majority of the songs actually feature excerpts from public domain Western films from the 1930s through the 1950s. Rather than cheaply sliding these chunks of dialogue in as transitions between songs, most of what’s used has been built into the music. I might assume some sections were even built around the Westerns, but even if they weren’t, it’s world-building at its finest.

Old fans looking to reconnect with the band will be happy to hear the group blast through an energetic performance that rings true to their roots.

Rowdier than their 2005 breakthrough album and less orchestral than their previous release, Five Dice, All Threes sees the band as more of an Alt-Country outfit. “Rainbow Overpass” and “El Capitan” both particularly explode with wildly saturated drums and acoustic guitar. While the texture is uncommon for the genre, it sits so well in the mix it may go unnoticed by the distracted listener.

No Bright Eyes release would be complete without a few utterly devastating ballads in the mix. “Real Feel 105°” and “Tiny Suicides” fill that niche – with the latter of those containing the trembling lyric, “Maybe if the sky aligns, maybe I could have you one last time.” The song ends with a sound byte of a woman sobbing uncontrollably.

The sorrow in “Real Feel 105°” is more of the passing fears of aging and processing time. “Growing old and confused, beauty’s wasted on youth. There’s too much to redact. There’s too much to include.” This is a band that does a fantastic job of capturing a full view of the human experience over the course of an album.

No matter the style they choose, the world itself seems a bit more lively to me when Bright Eyes releases a new album.

Suddenly the mundane details of daily living seem exciting. A bent up stop sign, a thrift shop jacket, and the woman in the lobby fidgeting with the hem of her dress all feel like untold stories I’m dying to hear. In the age of disposable music, this is a record meant to be etched in stone.

Bright Eyes has rescheduled their world tour in support of this album to early next year, and tmrw wishes Conor Oberst a speedy recovery. Tickets are on sale now.