Back in March, Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes started sharing their first new material in almost a decade. While there were suggestions that a comeback album was on the way, there have been no firm announcements. That changes today, though: Bright Eyes have revealed that their ninth album is titled Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was, and it’s coming out on August 21. The announcement was accompanied by a new song, “Mariana Trench,” a big indie-rocker with some jittery, frenetic detours.
Press materials say the album “functions on a global, apocalyptic level of anxiety that looms throughout the record. But on a personal level, it speaks to rooting around in the dirt of one’s memories, trying to find the preciousness that’s overgrown and unrecognizable. For Conor Oberst, coming back to Bright Eyes was a bit of that. A symbol of simpler times, vaguely nostalgic. And even though it wasn’t actually possible to go back to the way things were, even though there wasn’t an easy happy ending, there was a new reality left to work with. […] Down in the Weeds Where The World Once Was is an enormous record caught in the profound in-between of grief and clarity — one arm wrestling its demons, the other gripping the hand of love, in spite of it.”
Watch the “Mariana Trench” video above, and below, find the Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was art and tracklist.
1. “Pageturner’s Rag”
2. “Dance And Sing”
3. “Just Once In The World”
4. “Mariana Trench”
5. “One And Done”
6. “Pan And Broom”
7. “Stairwell Song”
8. “Persona Non Grata”
9. “Tilt-A-Whirl”
10. “Hot Car In The Sun”
11. “Forced Convalescence”
12. “To Death’s Heart (In Three Parts)”
13. “Calais To Dover”
14. “Comet Song”
Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was is out 8/21 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.