Bright Eyes - Five Dice, All Threes (Album Review)
Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Written by Jack Press
There is a feeling of whiplash at the heart of Bright Eyes’ ‘Five Dice, All Threes’, where an undercurrent of joy meets Conor Oberst’s pen as he wages war on existential dread once more — suicide references pock almost every song, while religion and politics plague joyful pots and pans indie-folk that doubles down on discordant harmonies, poetic juxtaposition, and chaotic sound collages.
The lyric sheet might make for grim reading (doubly so given Oberst’s grief at cancelling their touring plans after losing his voice) but it doesn’t half feel like he, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott are having the time of their lives.
Fuzzy field recordings and studio static flood the eardrums on disorienting opener Five Dice, before Bells and Whistles throws everything at the wall — Mr. Blue Sky synth-rock, Badly Drawn Boy’s trademark whistling, and explosions of wildly triumphant woodwind. Then there’s that nagging voice: “Bells and whistles, cheap thrills cost a lot.”
From here on out, Bright Eyes buckle up for a bumpy ride. It’s thrillingly unpredictable stuff for a band who’ve made a career out of being, broadly, predictable. One minute, you’re rolling like tumbleweed through El Capitan’s rich Americana; the next you’re languishing in the Sunday morning light of Hate’s soulful anti-slow jam.
The transition from the Cat Power-featuring All Threes into the Alex Orange Drink-starring Rainbow Overpass is particularly jarring. Here, a sprawling, synthy interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s artsy folk-rock that shoots daggers at Elon Musk moves into fuzzed-up indie-punk that does FIDLAR better than FIDLAR, while calling to mind the maddening joy of Counting Crows’ Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby.
But ‘Five Dice, All Threes’ shines best when Oberst really lets loose with his words. Straddling the line between poet and punk, he leaves Easter Eggs everywhere for dedicated fans. Sometimes it's a case of everything, everywhere, all at once, as he nods to politics, Better Oblivion Community Center collaborator Phoebe Bridgers, and life’s biggest questions in one loaded line on Real Feel 105°: “I hate the moon, but I'd take it from you, I want anything you have to give.”
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