Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has spoken to NME about “megalomaniac” Elon Musk, “bullshit” artificial intelligence, his hopes and fears about the forthcoming US presidential election, and how all of this and more has fed into the band's new album 'Five Dice, All Threes'.
The band's 11th album, and their second since their return from hiatus with 2020's 'Down In The Weed Where The World Once Was', features collaborations with Cat Power and The National's Matt Berninger, and was co-written in part by Oberst and Alex Levine (aka Alex Orange Drink) of New York indie punks The So So Glos.
“Alex was in LA in the winter of 2023 writing songs with Tim Armstrong from Rancid and Operation Ivy who has a studio here for different projects,” Oberst told NME. “He was staying with me at my house and I think he got sick of just watching me smoke cigarettes on my porch doing nothing.
“He was like, 'What are you doing today? Nothing? OK, well let's write a song.' We started hanging out with guitars on the porch, very old school, and wrote a lot of songs. Some of them might end up on one of his records, but a bunch of them felt very Bright Eyes centric. He was instrumental to getting this record made, just out of friendship and encouragement. He's just such a positive person.”
Oberst said that the record, which was preceded by the irreverent lead single 'Bells And Whistles' and the pacy, punk-inflected 'Rainbow Overpass', is “a bit more light, for want of a better word.”
“When I make records, to some extent they're a reaction to the record I made before,” Oberst said. “'Down In The Weeds\ was very heavy, for lack of a better word. We had John Theodore on drums and [Red Hot Chili Peppers‘] Flea on bass, and also Bright Eyes hadn't made a record in a long time so it felt very big and heavy too.
“This time, I still hope the songs resonate and have equal amounts of meaning, but as far as the sounds and approach to the music, it's a bit lighter. The word 'fun' is very rarely used to describe my band, but maybe it is a bit more fun. When we last went on tour we were cruising around with a 14-piece band and strings and horns. This record is going to be just guitars; rock and roll stuff.”
Check out our full interview with Oberst below, where
NME: Hello Conor. On new song 'Real Feel 105°', there's a line about “growing old and confused”, and in 'Bas Jan Ader' about how you “never thought [you’d] see 45 [years of age]”. Is there a link to be drawn between these themes of mortality and the way your recent Companion series forced you to take stock of your life and career to date?
Conor Oberst: “Sure. I think time is a strange thing because some things feel like they happened yesterday, and some things feel like they didn't even happen in your lifetime, or that someone else lived them. I'm also very bad with time. Is it Tuesday? Is it Thursday? Does it matter? Was that in 2012 or 2004? I'm just taking guesses.
“On top of that, as you get older – I don't want to call it sadness – but it becomes an inevitability that you look through your phone contacts and think 'This person's dead. That person's dead.' It's not as romantic as it felt as a young person. It gets worse, but also you get more used to it. I know [on the album] there's a 'we're all headed to the same place' kind of feeling.”
'Hate' is an intensely pessimistic song, about how, in your words, “bad guys always win”…
“Having lived in California for a good bit of time, there's a cultural thing that's like the affirmations hanging on the wall of an Airbnb; 'Live, laugh, love' kind of stuff. 'Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude'. But personally, when I look at the world I don't feel a lot of gratitude. I feel gratitude for my friends and my life, but I don't feel gratitude for humanity. I feel the opposite. I feel complete and utter terror for humanity.
“The first verse of that song is also about how I think that organized religion is one of the worst things that's ever happened to humankind, and that it causes such incredible pain. You don't have to be an exceptionally intelligent person to make this judgement; these people have been killing each other over fucking nonsense for millennia. I tried to get all the religions and cults in there, but I only had so many lines to work with.”
One line on that song – “right hand on the bible and the truth is still irrelevant” – also recalls politicians swearing their oaths of office…
“I mean, the hypocrisy of all that stuff is so palpable. I think 95 percent of politicians are full of shit. I didn't have to get a PhD to come up with that conclusion. I just happen to have read the newspaper for most of my life.”
How are you feeling about the upcoming US election, then?
“I mean, knock on wood, but I think that Vice President Harris would make a great president. She's incredibly smart. She seems empathetic and very, very qualified. I don't want to say that it's a done deal, people need to show up, and there are some hurdles as far as being the first woman of color [to run for president].
“For progressive leaning friends of mine it felt that when Biden was still in the race, it was like everyone had resigned to the fact that he was probably going to lose, and that it was gonna be horrible. Now it feels like we might actually be able to pull this thing off, if everyone gets together and agrees that, sadly, we have a binary option, and given the two options, one is clearly much better than the other. I hope that carries us across the finish line.”
Back to the record: do you think Alex Levine brings something new to a Bright Eyes album that hasn't been there before?
“I think so. He comes from a really DIY scene. You know when you read about a band 'from Brooklyn' and how none of them are really from Brooklyn? These guys were actually from Brooklyn. They started venues in the cheapest warehouses you could find, built them out themselves and lived in them and had shows every night. They got busted every other time, but I think eventually the local cops realized that they were just kids trying to play some music, so let them do it. You've got to be from the neighborhood to pull off that kind of shit!
Cat Power and Matt Berninger from The National appear on 'All Threes' and 'The Time I Have Left' respectively. Why these collaborators in particular?
“They're both old friends of mine. Chan [Marshall, aka Cat Power]shit… I met in like 2000 and I was a fan of hers before that. I loved 'What Would The Community Think' when that came out in '95 and got a chance to open for her a couple of times. When we were making 'All Threes' I could just hear her voice, so I texted her and got it sent to her. She lives in Miami now, but she sang it in her studio and sent it back.
“It was the same with Matt where I could hear his voice in the song. I first discovered The National when 'Alligator' came out, so like 2005, and I just love that band. Five or six years later we ended up doing this weird podcast thing where we interviewed each other, and that turned into, 'Now we're drinking wine all night,' and now we're good friends.”
There's also a reference to Elon Musk on the record….
“Would you like to hear my thoughts on Elon Musk?
Yes, please…
“Well, I think he's one of the biggest pieces of shit to ever walk the fucking earth. I think he's ruining culture one step at a time. I think he's a megalomaniac. I think Grimes sucks. He's the richest man in the world, which probably says more about humanity than him. He didn't invent anything – same with fucking Steve Jobs, they just got rich off other people's ideas. And I will never buy a Tesla for that fucking reason. I'll buy an electric car, but I won't buy shit from that motherfucker ever.
Elsewhere you sound like you're taking aim at artificial intelligence, too.
“I read these articles where they say it's going to be helpful for doctors in rural communities and I'm not saying that technology has no value. I just think it has no value in art. I mean, just leave art alone. Can we have one little sliver of society where we aren't slaves to tech companies' bullshit? Let there be some humanity left for your grandchildren.”
Bright Eyes' new album 'Five Dice, All Threes' is released on 20 September via Dead Oceans. Check out the band's upcoming UK and European tour dates below, and visit here for tickets and more information.
NOVEMBER
10 – Wolverhampton, UK Wulfrun Hall
11 – London, UK, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
12 – Nijmegen, Netherlands, Doornroosje
13 – Ghent, Belgium, Ha Concerts
14 – Cologne, Germany, Carlswerk Victoria
15 – Berlin, Germany, Tempodrom
16 – Weissenhauser Strand, Germany, Rolling Stone Beach
18 – Stockholm, Sweden, Fållan
19 – Oslo, Norway, Parkteatret
