Album Review: Conor Oberst - Salutations

The latest offering from Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst is anything but a follow-up album. Rather than moving on from 2016's Ruminations, Oberst has delivered Salutations — a companion album that re-imagines the solo tracks of Ruminations with a full band while adding in seven entirely new songs.

Salutations, an album that successfully marries Americana with pop, has developed into the album that Oberst always intended it to be. The album is beautifully melancholic and its storytelling is amplified by the addition of the band. The production is clever, reshuffling the tracklisting from the previous album and then scattering the new pieces throughout to create an entirely new journey. Tracks like Napalm and Empty Hotel By The Sea are perfect examples of why companion albums such as this make sense.

Shout out to the updated Till St Dymphna Kicks Us Out, which now sounds like the full-bodied singalong it always should have been. Oberst even sounds more upbeat in his vocal track, giving the song a whole new feel.

Salutations is a brave album and Oberst should be commended for it. There's a fair amount of courage in recreating an album that people know and love, but the results prove that sometimes things are better the second time around.