By Isaac Hamlet
Celebrating the release of his new album — Salutations, March 17 — Conor Oberst will perform in the Englert Theater, 221 E. Washington St., at 7 p.m. March 26.
The album, a companion to 2016’s Ruminations, features more fleshed-out versions of the 10 songs that appeared on that album alongside seven new pieces. The initial 10 songs were minimalist in that all the instrumentation and singing were done by Oberst.
Here, the songs have a full band, which, for the most part, allows for a richer, more varied sound. Though in the song “Too Late to Fixate” especially, his voice can feel weak compared with the instrumentation around him, which threatens to overshadow his singing entirely by the end.
Oberst has a voice that lends itself well to intimate pieces in which it’s just him and one or two other instruments. Here, though, the singer/songwriter’s album is fueled by easygoing percussion, mellow guitars, and bursts of melancholy harmonica. All of which are well-helmed, but occasionally, the lyrics don’t mesh with this more sweeping sound.
That said, the lyrics are a highlight for those interested in the usual indie/folk fare. In terms of content, they’re largely songs about lost loves or faded dreams, or they employ gossamer-thin metaphors. But the language itself is strong and mostly potent, unexpectedly mixing the everyday with emotional turmoil.
For those who don’t frequent the genre, there are few songs, such as “Napalm,” that are upbeat and energized enough that they might distinguish themselves positively from the other songs, but the rest of the roughly hourlong album is made up of the slower tunes you expect from the genre.
Outside of that, some of the songs on the album end a little abruptly, seeming as if they would have benefited from fade-outs or allowing a little more resolution at the end. This is mostly from a musical perspective, though, because the lyrics tend to tie themselves up exactly when you’d want. Overall, this is an above average album for fans of folk-indie. It’s easy to listen to, has well-written lyrics, and consistently passionate instrumentation.