Better Oblivion Community Center

Product Information

Because of their uniquely emo vocal styles and their tender subject matter, both Oberst and Bridgers are typically characterized as confessional songwriters, which can belie the complexity (and humor) of their work. In these songs, they push each other to write more in character. The opening “Didn’t Know What I Was in For” is an imagistic story-song that spirals out from dreary contentedness. Observing a friend who “says she cries at the news but doesn’t really” and eavesdropping on poolside conversations that start polite but “always sounds so cruel,” Bridgers implicates herself in a generational sense of helplessness: “I’ve never really done anything for anyone,” she sings over a mournfully strummed acoustic guitar. The album is a loose concept album about the Better Oblivion Community Center, a fictional dystopian wellness facility. [6] Release and promotion [ edit ] You guys obviously compliment each other vocally, we talked about that, but you also feel an affinity with one another in that you admire each other’s songwriting. And you both generally write alone, right? It’s not your usual thing to write a song with someone else.

Lynch, Ben (January 24, 2019). "Behind the smoke and mirrors, Better Oblivion Community Center is a melancholic delight". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved January 30, 2019. Manno, Lizzie (January 24, 2019). "Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst Surprise-Drop New Collaboration Album, Better Oblivion Community Center". Paste. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019 . Retrieved January 24, 2019. a b Walker-Smart, Sam (January 24, 2019). "Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center". Clash . Retrieved January 24, 2019. So then you guys would guest at each others shows, right? And Conor, you were spending a lot of time in Los Angeles around this time. Cuz you’ve been in Omaha mostly the past few years but you have a spot in LA, on the West Side.

Credits (5)

Phoebe: Yeah, we didn’t know if it would be a single or an EP or what, but we knew we wanted to try writing together and for it to have its own identity with a band name.

You’re going to tour this record in March and April. You’re putting a band together for it now, right? The first song you wrote together is the first song on the album, “I Didn’t Know What I Was In For” and at that time you weren’t really thinking it would be a whole album but you knew you wanted it to be its own thing, not a Phoebe Bridgers & Conor Oberst album of acoustic songs? DeVille, Chris (January 24, 2019). "Conor Oberst & Phoebe Bridgers Release Surprise Album As Better Oblivion Community Center". Stereogum . Retrieved January 24, 2019.

Phoebe Bridgers Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2020. It’s got a sort of grunge vibe. Did you know that in dream analysis the color yellow is symbolic of intellect, energy, agility, happiness, harmony, and wisdom?

Dutchcharts.nl – Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2019. Bridgers and Oberst wrote and recorded the album in secret in Los Angeles in mid- to late 2018. [4] Music and themes [ edit ] Ultratop.be – Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 2, 2019. Right, and so you guys would show up and guest at shows. And you’re on Phoebe’s song “Would You Rather”. So really early on you started collaborating on music, right? That was kind of an immediate spark, this instinct to perform and sing together. And your voices, they really compliment one another. There’s something really special about when you duet. Particularly when you sing in unison, it really works. Phoebe, you have a really sweet, crystal clear voice and Conor, yours is more world weary and raspy, so there’s something really striking about them together. Music critics have spilled a lot of ink over your guys work. I’m not even gonna try. But can you describe each other’s song writing in three words?a b Murphy, Sarah (January 24, 2019). "Better Oblivion Community Center Better Oblivion Community Center". Exclaim! . Retrieved January 24, 2019. Alright. We can leave that in, I guess we answered it... So let’s get to when you two met. It was a show at the Bootleg in LA, and Conor you were playing a secret show and Phoebe, your friend at the venue got you to open for them. This was July 2016, so before Stranger In The Alps was out, and Conor, you were there early enough to watch her set. And afterwards you asked her to send you her record. You must’ve really been impressed with her set. Colburn, Randall (January 24, 2019). "Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers just dropped an album as Better Oblivion Community Center". The A.V. Club . Retrieved January 24, 2019.

And some other talented friends, songwriter Christian Lee Hutson on guitar, and Anna Butterss on bass. They both played bass in Phoebe’s touring band at different times, right? How would you compare them as players? Conor Oberst – vocals (1–10), guitar (1, 2, 4, 7–9), baritone guitar (3), piano (4, 10), keyboards (5), Whirly tube (7); production, photography Trendell, Andrew (January 27, 2019). "Phoebe Bridgers & Conor Oberst – 'Better Oblivion Community Center' review". NME . Retrieved January 27, 2019. Better Oblivion Community Center, the new band from Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, recently surprise-released their self-titled debut album. They kept their plans under wraps for months as they wrote and recorded in Los Angeles in the summer and fall of 2018. By the tail end of the year rumors were swirling and a mysterious phone number appeared on social media platforms. Fans of both artists began receiving enigmatic brochures in the mail and a bus stop advertising the Better Oblivion Community Center appeared in their hometown of LA. Then, the album appeared, without warning, on streaming services, and within the hour the band were performing, for the very first time, on network television.

Recommendations

For Bridgers, this was essentially square one. Her songs, hushed and patient, often seek in-the-moment honesty over retrospective wisdom. She’s equally adept at capturing an omnipresent fog of melancholy and the cosmic joke looming just outside our periphery. Her debut was filled with odes to friends who died too young and woeful retellings of her stoned, late-night regrets, all sung with a lightness that made her worldview seem both chaotic and consoling. Late in the album, she invited Oberst to sing on a ballad called “Would You Rather.” Voicing the troubled family member who helped make Bridgers’ childhood survivable, he echoed her fluttering whisper in a low, empathetic wheeze: “I’m a can on a string/You’re on the end.” Did you guys ever sit down and talk about themes or how you wanted the album to sound? Did you discuss what kind of songs they’d be or did you just sit down and start writing to see what would happen? Ah, okay. But you wrote them together. It’s not like Conor would have a song and send it to you, or you would have a song and he would just add bits to it. These songs you guys sat down and wrote together. In the same room? Hall, Michael James (January 28, 2019). "Better Oblivion Community Center: Better Oblivion Community Center (Dead Oceans) Review". Under the Radar . Retrieved January 30, 2019. The album had an elaborate rollout featuring cryptic brochures and a telephone hotline. [6] They performed "Dylan Thomas" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on January 23, 2019. [7] The album was released the next day.