Conor Oberst makes songs about war and depression sound much too appealing. Sure, there's a sappy love song on the album ("First Day of My Life"), but I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning keeps the mood mostly somber. This is Americana through the eyes of a sharp young man with a big voice and a cynical streak. Oberst's lyrics may be too downtrodden for some - "We might die from medication but we sure killed all the pain" - but urban-set folk music doesn't get better than this.
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I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Joseph Emerson Bryant It's the saddle creek sound that you seem to be trying to define in this.
