Ruminations [LP] Conor Oberst Artist

Recorded in less than 48 hours with longtime collaborator {|Mike Mogis|} and engineer {|Ben Brodin|}, {|Ruminations|} sees {|Conor Oberst|} going full-on {|Nebraska|}, delivering a raw, difficult, and often beautiful set of deeply personal songs with... Read more

Recorded in less than 48 hours with longtime collaborator {|Mike Mogis|} and engineer {|Ben Brodin|}, {|Ruminations|} sees {|Conor Oberst|} going full-on {|Nebraska|}, delivering a raw, difficult, and often beautiful set of deeply personal songs with minimal accompaniment. His seventh solo album and first since 2014's {|Upside Down Mountain|}, {|Ruminations|} is a far cry from the fiery, politically charged punk of 2015's {|Desaparecidos|} outing {|Payola|}. That said, it delivers much of what fans have come to expect from the prolific, erudite midwesterner; alternately shambolic and stately distillations of life's hardships, delivered with honesty and wobbly conviction. Written during a particularly challenging time that found {|Oberst|} battling anxiety, depression, laryngitis, and a host of other medical ills, the ten-track set bristles with the unease that comes with having to confront a particularly large swath of the unknown. Utilizing piano, guitar, and occasionally harmonica, {|Oberst|} wrestles with past, present, and future, but most of the aptly named LP concerns itself with loss. It's not the prettiest or easiest of records, nor is it {|Oberst|}'s finest outing to date, but it does house some real gems, including the emotionally charged opener Tachycardia, the thoughtful, {|Dylan|}-esque You All Loved Him Once, and the barbed and broken A Little Uncanny, the latter of which manages to pay homage to {|Jane Fonda|}, take down {|Ronald Reagan|}, and eulogize {|Robin Williams|}, {|Christopher Hitchens|}, {|Oliver Sacks|}, and {|Sylvia Plath|}, all in just over four minutes. ~ James Christopher Monger Less