Bright Eyes to Release Album Next Year

On Februrary 15, Bright Eyes will release a new album, The People's Key, the band's first album since 2007's Cassadaga. Despite the group's hiatus, singer and main songwriter Conor Oberst has been prolific as ever, releasing two solo albums and an EP over the past two years as well as an album with Monsters of Folk, his group with My Morning Jacket's Jim James, M. Ward and Bright Eyes bandmate Mike Mogis.

The People's Key was produced by Mogis and features contributions from members of Cursive, the Faint, Now It's Overhead, Autolux, the Mynabirds, and the Berg Sans Nipple.

Bright Eyes: King of Indie Rock

The band also announced two tour dates next year, one at New York's Radio City Music Hall on March 9 and one at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 23.

Oberst suggested to Rolling Stone (as quoted in Pitchfork) in 2009 that the next Bright Eyes album may be the band's last, but there was no comment on that matter at press time.

"It does feel like it needs to stop at some point," Oberst said, referring to Bright Eyes. "I'd like to clean it up, lock the door, say goodbye."

Bright Eyes Announce New Album and London Gig [NME]

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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