Five Dice, All Threes

Five Dice, All Threes is a record of uncommon intensity and tenderness,

communal exorcism and personal excavation. These are, of course, qualities

that fans have come to expect from Bright Eyes, nearly three decades into

their career. The tight-knit band of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate

Walcott tends to operate in distinct sweeping movements: each unique in it's

sound and story but unified by a sense of ambition and ever-growing

emotional stakes. Even with this rich history behind them, these new songs

exude a visceral thrill like nothing they have attempted before. Oberst has

always sung in a voice that conveys a sense of life-or-death gravity. At times

throughout Five Dice, All Threes, you may feel worried for him; other times, he

may seem like the only one with the clarity to get us out of this mess.

On the self-produced album, Bright Eyes embrace the elusive quality that

has made them so enduring and influential across generations and genres,

bringing their homespun sound from an Omaha bedroom to devoted

audiences around the world. In Oberst's songwriting lies a promise that our

loneliest thoughts and feelings can take on grander shapes when passed

between friends, blasted through speakers, or shouted among crowds. This

time around, the band invites such like-minded voices onto the record with

them, with notable guest appearances from Cat Power ("All Threes"), The

National's Matt Berninger ("The Time I Have Left"), and Alex Levine, the

frontman of the New York punk band The So So Glos, who co-wrote several

songs and shares a climactic verse in the surging "Rainbow Overpass."

When they hit the studio with Oberst's longtime bandmates-the multiinstrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis, the keyboardist and arranger Nate

Walcott-they opted for a fast-paced approach that drew inspiration from

formative influences like The Replacements and Frank Black. They sought

textures that burst from the mix like gnarly splashes of paint on a blank

canvas; they opted for first takes and spontaneous decisions. Five Dice, All

Threes thrashes and squirms and resists classification. In the brilliant expanse

of "El Capitan," they blend a galloping rhythm you might find in a Johnny Cash

standard with a swell of funereal horns, shouted vocals, and lyrics that read

like a sobering farewell between twin souls. "So they're burning you an effigy,"

Oberst sings. "Well, that happens to me all the time!"

For every striking turn in his lyrics, the band knows just how to

complement him. On one level, Five Dice, All Threes may be the most fun

album in the Bright Eyes catalog, filled with singalong hooks and buzzing

performances. And yet, sitting alongside these adrenalized rockers that sound

beamed in directly from the garage, you will find contemplative, psychedelic

material like the heartbreaking "Tiny Suicides" and "All Threes," a song whose

jazzy piano solo and free-associative lyrics feel totally unprecedented in the

Bright Eyes catalog.

As per usual, the music comes loaded with subtext that invites deep

listening-the signature touch of a band who has always honored the album as

it's own exalted work of art. In the game of threes, the titular move would

indicate a perfect roll. Perfection, however, means something different in the

world of Bright Eyes, where our flaws are what grants us authority and finding

meaning is only possible if we bear witness to the dark, winding journey to

get there. On Five Dice, All Threes, Bright Eyes embrace these beliefs with

music that feels thrillingly alive, as if we were all in the room with them,

shouting along and gaining the strength to move forward together. It doesn't

just sound like classic Bright Eyes. It sounds like their future, too.