Better Oblivion Community Center is the newest project from artists Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes), released earlier this year. I personally have spent the last few years swooning over Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps, and the better part of my teen years crying to Bright Eyes after soccer practice, so this was my indie-folk, nostalgia ridden holy grail.
The album is something of a relief, a long car ride with your dad on the way to visit grandma, looking out the windows, not talking, but just enjoying quality time together. With Oberst’s many projects behind him, and a long stretched indie reputation, and Bridgers as somewhat of a breaking artist, their sound under BOCC seems not like the merging of their past works and styles, but the creation of something new entirely. Behind the easy melodies, there are words of grief, escape, and breaking points. The words Oberst and Bridgers sing create a narrative, that girl you know from your job three summers ago, your brother, the cruel reality of yourself.
Bringing out the best in each other, Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst’s Better Oblivion Community Center is the pairing we deserve.