Ruminations is Conor Oberst’s Nebraska: It’s a set of stripped-down solo recordings, mostly just piano, harmonica and Oberst’s rough poetry, written during a snowy Omaha winter and recorded quickly. Its title is apt: These are thoughtful, interior songs, with little of the jittery anxiety of the early Bright Eyes recordings to which they’ll inevitably be compared, nor with much of the expansive worldview of Oberst’s recent solo work (and none of the political venom of Desaparecidos). Instead, there are laments for lost heroes (Sylvia Plath, Robin Williams), odes to Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and a general sense of feeling disillusioned, strung-out and “Gossamer Thin.” A long time ago, Oberst’s records felt like important proclamations, and some of them were. Ruminations doesn’t set out to be a grand statement, but it’s all the more rewarding for keeping the focus on Oberst’s word-rich language and emotionally direct observations.
—Steve Klinge
