Okay, who got Conor a synthesizer for Christmas?
Let me start by saying that Bright Eyes has not lost anything with this record. Although it will most likely become a forgettable installment in the band’s catalog, lyrically it is very sound. You would be hard pressed to find any more wonderfully woven words on Fevers and Mirrors than exists on The People’s Key.
That being said, from start to finish, this record could have been a great EP. It can safely be said, after this review is written I will never listen to this album from start to finish again. Certain songs (Ladder Song, A Machine Spiritual, and Approximate Sunlight) will no doubt make it to a play list or two, but will never again be lost in this sea of tired and cluttered compositions.
Sure, I sound like I’m upset that all of an artist’s records don’t sound the same; which might be true if this album wasn’t so disappointing. Do I hate this album because it’s muddy with synthesizers? No, Digital Ash was a fantastic record. That piece was electrifying, moving the listener along to an even flow. The People’s Key is void of both charge and flow.
Can we please stop giving passes to accredited artists once they’ve made us happy for a decade or more? I could shit in an ice cream cone; just because it’s brown, that doesn’t make it Chocolate. Just because it’s Bright Eyes, it doesn’t mean it’s great.
This is coming from a solid Bright Eyes listener. In fact, I’m sure I’ve over played their records a few too many times in college. However, for the most part The People’s Key is not good. Audibly attacking, it does not sound like they’re steering us on a journey as they push this record along; but rather that they are speeding to catch up with the Brooklyn Bullshit indie sound that we’ve been forced to hear everywhere for the past 6 years.
I am reminded of the saying, “If you fail to learn from history you are doomed to repeat it”. It’s safe to say, when Dylan plugged in, it sucked. When Conor sat on crowded synth tracks…it sucked.
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