Conor Oberst’s distinct style is one which can polarise people; you either love him or you hate him. I’m in the category that really really likes some of his releases and then others I think are just utter crap. This is the one that bridges that gap.

I was more of a fan of Lifted and I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and I feel that Cassadaga touches on those albums a couple times (songs like “Middleman” and “Cleanse Song”) but there are a few doozies where he puts on too much of an obvious Bob Dylan twang and it ends up sounding more processed than his more idiosyncratic rawer style.

Overall, the album’s sound is a bit more polished, which you can either take or leave, and it seems to wear it’s country pop sounds on its sleeve.

It was a meagre hit and mostly miss for me. Repeated listenings might garner something new but at the moment I’m ambivalent.

Matt Scheurich