Bright Eyes have announced an ambitious new archival project that finds the Conor Oberst-led project re-recording songs from their past. After moving to the Secretly Group label last year, Bright Eyes have set out to reissue their entire discography on Dead Oceans. Accompanying each reissue will be a six-song companion EP composed of reworked recordings of five album tracks, plus a cover of an artist that was particularly inspiring to the band at the time they recorded each album. All told, that’s 54 new recordings from Bright Eyes, and several of the tracks feature contributions from artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, and M. Ward.
“It’s a meaningful way to connect with the past that doesn’t feel totally nostalgic and self-indulgent,” Oberst said of the series in a statement. “We are taking these songs and making them interesting to us all over again. I like that. I like a challenge. I like to be forced to do something that’s slightly hard, just to see if we can.”
To kick off the project, Bright Eyes will release companion EPs to their 1998 debut, A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, 1998’s Letting Off The Happiness, and 2000’s Fevers and Mirrors, on March 27th through Dead Oceans.
As a preview of A Collection of Songs…, Bright Eyes have shared the reworked “Falling Out of Love At This Volume.” Where the original paired a fuzz guitar over a lo-fi acoustic, the band lean in to the electric in this sped up reworking.
“Contrast and Compare,” today’s preview of Letting Off The Happiness, features Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield in a duet with Oberst. With their vocals front and center and a horn solo to boot, the recording adds a cinematic embellishment to the slow-burning waltz.
“Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh,” from Fevers and Mirrors: A Companion, features frequent Oberst collaborator Phoebe Bridgers as an understated backing vocalist. Here, Oberst makes the already-moody track even moodier, trading acoustic guitar for a droning electric and dramatic percussion.
Bridgers is featured on four of the Fevers and Mirrors tracks, as well as a cover of Elliott Smith’s “St. Ides Heaven” from Letting Off The Happiness. Other contributors to Letting Off The Happiness include M. Ward and Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark.
See the tracklists for each of the three EPs below, and pre-order the releases here.
Bright Eyes have also added a ton of new dates to their upcoming tour, including a run across the West Coast and a European jaunt. See the full itinerary below and grab tickets via Ticketmaster.
A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997: A Companion EP Artwork:
A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997: A Companion EP Tracklist:
01. Driving Fast Through a Big City at Night
02. Solid Jackson
03. A Celebration Upon Completion
04. Falling Out of Love at This Volume
05. Exaltation on a Cool Kitchen Floor
06. Double Joe (Simon Joyner cover)
Letting Off The Happiness: A Companion EP Artwork:
Letting Off The Happiness: A Companion EP Tracklist:
01. The Difference in the Shades
02. The City Has Sex (feat. Waxahatchee)
03. Contrast and Compare (feat. Waxahatchee)
04. Kathy with a K’s Song (feat. M Ward)
05. St. Ides Heaven (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) (Elliott Smith cover)
06. June on the West Coast (feat. Becky Stark)
Fevers and Mirrors: A Companion EP Artwork:
Fevers and Mirrors: A Companion EP Tracklist:
01. Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
02. A Scale, a Mirror, and Those Indifferent Clocks (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
03. Arienette
04. Hypnotist (Song for Daniel H) (Lullaby for the Working Class cover)
05. When the Curious Girl Realizes She is Under Glass (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
06. A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
Bright Eyes 2022 Tour Dates:
03/23 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
03/24 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater
03/25 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
03/26 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
03/30 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
03/31 – Louisville, KY @ Paristown Hall
04/01 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
04/03 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live!
04/05 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
04/07 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
04/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
04/09 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
04/10 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
05/19 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Jones Assembly
05/20 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
05/21 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
05/22 — Houston, TX @ The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall
05/23 — New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
05/25 — Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall
05/26 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
05/27 — Miami Beach, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater
05/28 — St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre
05/29 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
05/31 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
06/01 — Cincinatti, OH @ Brady Music Center
06/02 — Richmond, VA @ Brown’s Island
06/03 — Ashbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summerstage
06/04 — New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
06/05 — Lafayette, NY @ Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards
06/15 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
06/16 — Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
06/17 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
06/18 — Troutdale, OR @ McMenamin’s Edgefield Amphitheatre
06/20 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
06/23 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
06/24 — San Diego, CA @ Soma
06/25 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
06/28 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
06/30 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
07/01 — Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
07/02 — Omaha, NE @ The Admiral
07/03 — Omaha, NE @ The Admiral
08/12 — Oslo, NO @ Øyafestivalen 2022
08/ 14 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
08/16 — Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
08/17 — Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Music Bar
08/19 — Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
08/20 — Frankfurt, DE @ Batschkapp
08/22 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
08/23 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
08/25 — Vienna, AL @ Arena Open Air
08/26 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
08/27 – Zurich, CH @ X-Tra
08/30 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
08/31 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
09/01 — Dublin, UK @ Vicar Street
09/05 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Birmingham
09/06 — Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland
