Bright Eyes: Kids Table EP

"On "Cairns (When Your Heart Belongs to Everyone)," he sulks about the pressures of being a public figure with a series of increasingly strained comparisons: "a flower shop in June," "footprints on the moon," "a corner store that's out of booze." "Shakespeare in a Nutshell" is perhaps the worst offender, a muted electric piano backing Oberst as he mopes, "I have no one to depend on, Gentile or Jew.""

"This lethargy becomes pointedly obvious on their cover of Lucinda Williams' "Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet)." On his warbling lips and somberly plucked guitar, the song loses the ambiguity in Williams' rendition, the way her voice could express polarized emotions-doubt and hope, affection and suspicion-within a single word. Only when folk vocalist Leslie Stevens joins him does the song begin to recapture the resigned warmth of the original."

"Similarly, the album's strengths often come from incorporating the voice of another: On two songs across the EP, Oberst recruits tourmate Alynda Segarra (of Hurray for the Riff Raff), who provides some much-needed muscle to contrast his half-hearted melodies. As they sing "Blasting off to outer space/Small step in a big rat race" on the title track's final refrain, Oberst's gravely low-end finds a harmony with Segarra's fiery vocals, and the album finds its footing."

Bright Eyes' latest EP often slips into lethargic, familiar melancholy marked by strained comparisons and unoriginal couplets. Several songs feature weak delivery and retrograde lyrical turns that lack nuance or self-reflection. The cover of Lucinda Williams loses crucial ambiguity until a guest vocalist restores some emotional depth. Tracks featuring Alynda Segarra bring much-needed contrast and energy, allowing harmonies and vocal tension to elevate otherwise half-hearted melodies. When the band breaks from routine melancholy and employs unexpected styles, such as the ska-tinged single, the music briefly regains momentum and the project finds its more compelling moments.

Read at Pitchfork