Bright Eyes meditate on death and existence with new album ‘Five Dice, All Threes’

Bright Eyes are a tough band to crack. Primarily the vessel of singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, the Nebraska-based indie band has long served up dense records full of both personal and societal struggles (not to mention a large side of angst), and that's precisely why fans love them. The eleventh studio album from the indie rock legends, entitled Five Dice, All Threes, is sure to satisfy both newcomers and longtime fans alike.

Beginning with a short sound collage intro, the record then kicks off with lead single "Bells and Whistles," a track with a fun, albeit very 2000s-sounding whistling hook. While it may not reach the heights of previous Bright Eyes openers, it's a fun choice for a lead single that includes enough lyrical ambiguity to invite repeated listens. Other highlights I found included "El Capitan" – a building and quite emotional ballad, as well as the punky outburst that is "Rainbow Overpass." Also worth mentioning are "All Threes" and "The Time I Have Left," duets with Cat Power and The National's Matt Berninger respectively. I enjoyed them for the sheer novelty of hearing Conor's voice melding with these artists, though I found the songs rather dull otherwise.

Overall, the album has a very warm and intimate mix that, alongside the vivid (and oftentimes dark) lyrical imagery, helps paint a picture for everyone to see of Oberst' tortured mind. It invites numerous listens to really get to the bottom of, which is par for the course with this band, and personally, I got a lot out of my second and third listens. While not a masterpiece by any means, it's sure to satisfy longtime fans of the band (including myself) and hopefully even introduce some newcomers to these indie legends.

That being said, the talents of the rest of the band shouldn't go unnoticed either, with Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott helping to flesh out the band's distinctive sound, which is very much intact on this release. The band has delivered a new record full of fun indie hooks that are sure to satisfy any fans of the genre.