SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER – BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER

Better Oblivion Community Center
Better Oblivion Community Center
Dead Oceans

A release that very much snuck up on fans of Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers, the self-titled Better Oblivion Community Center is a study in balance. Oberst and Bridgers have already established themselves as exceptional musicians with an array of influences, both artists frequently embracing their restless musical spirits such that this collaboration is no real surprise. No less is it a work of incredible quality.

From the opening track “Didn’t Know What I Was in For”, it is abundantly clear that neither artist would take the spotlight on this album, sharing both the vocals and instrumentation. The duo’s voices seem made to harmonize together, even when they swap tones and timbres from one song to the next, neither singer content to stay in one specific register, much to the album’s overall benefit. Lyrically, there seems to be a loosely linear relationship tying the songs together, but it is the ability of both songwriters to tell stories of everyday life and everyday emotion that stands out. In terms of songs, there are several outstanding moments, but “Service Road” is easily the pick of the bunch, a heartbreaking song about a loved one’s seemingly slow physical regression into illness.

A balanced collection of honest and authentic folk-infused songs, this is an album that leaves the listener hoping that these two restless spirits find their way back to the Better Oblivion Community Center soon.

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