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If you’re a Bright Eyes old-head, it’s been a very good year. Not only has it been 25 years since the release of Fevers and Mirrors, but it’s been two full decades of the twin classics I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Still, if you’re craving actual new music from Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott, then you’re in luck: The group’s latest EP, Kids Table, drops September 26th via Dead Oceans.
The eight-track project is described a return to the band’s roots, with the EP sprinkled with “bons mots, wordplay, and references to everyone from William Shakespeare and Salman Rushdie to Candice Bergen, Joe Strummer, and even Mrs. Peacock from Clue.” Highlights include the previously-released, ska-tastic “1st World Blues” and the Lucinda Williams cover “Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet).” Per a press release, that cover was the first recording made by Oberst after “recovering from a medical emergency in fall of 2024 that left him battling vocal problems.”
The statement goes on to describe the EP as a “partner-in-crime” to 2024’s mostly great Five Dice, All Threes as well as a “a self-contained world all of its own,” with Bright Eyes “perpetually teetering between rogue optimism and pragmatic despair.” If that ain’t like 2005 all over again, then I’ll throw out all of my statement belts and velour tracksuits right now.
To accompany the EP’s announcement, Bright Eyes have unveiled another track, “Dyslexic Palindrome,” featuring Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra. Here, Oberst and Segarra make genuine vocal harmony as the pair explore the “dark complacency of living in today’s capitalistic culture.” In the same statement, Oberst called Segarra “one of the most soulful people I have ever encountered,” and added that their latest effort stands out among their frequent musical collaborations.
“Everything that passes through them is haunted by the weary ghost of American music past,” Obertst said of Segarra. “I have had the good fortune of recording and performing with them on many occasions and I am always blown away by Alynda’s ability to channel what is both intangible and universal. Seemingly walking along in a second line of skeletons. Blowing on a valiant horn. I know it sounds crazy but, yet, there Alynda is. Always so very present but with one foot on the other side.”
Check out the song’s visualizer as well as the EP cover art below. For even more recent-ish Bright Eyes music, check out the Cursive mashup “Recluse I Don’t Have to Love” and a re-recording of “A Song to Pass The Time” from Fevers & Mirrors that benefits The Poison Oak Project.
Bright Eyes also have an assortment of shows for the remainder of this year. That includes their remaining U.S. run through early September and dates in Asia for November and December. Get your tickets here.
Kids Table EP Artwork:
Kids Table EP Tracklist:
01. Kids Table
02. Cairns (When Your Heart Belongs to Everyone)
03. 1st World Blues
04. Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet)
05. It Always Feels Good and It Never Hurts
06. Dyslexic Palindrome (feat. Hurray For The Riff Raff)
07. Shakespeare In A Nutshell
08. Victory City
Bright Eyes 2025 Tour Dates:
08/27 – Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery *
08/28 – Forest Grove, OR @ McMenamins Grand Lodge *
08/29 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre *
08/30 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival
09/01 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall *^
09/02 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot *
09/03 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Las Vegas *
11/27 – Singapore, Singapore @ Capitol Theatre
12/03 – Naniwa Ku, Osaka @ Yogibo META VALLEY
12/04 – Minato City, Tōkyō-to @ EX THEATER ROPPONG
* = w/ Saintseneca
^ = w/ Doug Martsch
English (US) · 