For a long time now, Conor Oberst has been making a name for himself and bulking up his musical resume, albeit with mixed results. The latest collection of work is released under his real name and sees the Monsters of Folk and founding member of Bright Eye’s hit the ground running.
For established fans of Oberst, this record will be an utter delight to behold — its roots are deeply embedded within the kind of music he has become best known for, while at the same time offering a considerable amount more. There are moments of quiet, stripped-down introspection and rustic Americana (the kitschy yet beautiful “You are Your Mother’s Child” is a perfect example of this), but the range of the album extends beyond this. Scattered throughout Upside Down Mountain are tracks which are both full-bodied and meticulously assembled with a much fuller sound, courtesy of extra instrumentation such as keyboards, strings and even brass sections. These meatier editions to the record are stretched out into a number of interesting and varied shapes. Whether it be the harmony and hand clap-heavy “Governor’s Ball” or the tropical pop foundations of “Hundreds of Ways”, Oberst is taking styles and sounds he’s used before and moulding them into all kinds of lovable, fascinating ideas.
The key to the album’s heart unsurprisingly is the recognizable lilt in Oberst’s voice and the personal words it carries. Even in the past, when I’ve been on the fence regarding Oberst’s musical output, he’s always stood out as an accomplished songwriter, and with this record, nothing has changed. Actually, the nature of conversation on wax here is particularly interesting, as he’s keenly focused on both the concept of time and change. The theme of moving on and taking stock rests at the record’s core and is tackled in the same whimsical and intimate manner fans have come to know and love.
Upside Down Mountain is very much a product of maturity and comes across as both a personal and reflective record that has been formed courtesy of the very themes it explores. Though it falls just shy of his most acclaimed material, it’s a pretty fantastic album nonetheless.
