Conor Oberst

Salutations

Full-band takes of last year’s Ruminations long-player, plus strong new tracks. Following last October’s barebones Ruminations, Oberst took its 10 songs back into the studio with members of the Felice Brothers and storied drummer Jim Keltner, along with seven new tracks. The resulting sessions swap the lonely chill of the original recordings for a bucolic Highway 61 vibe that well suits the Dylanesque tenor of Oberst’s recent songwriting, lending an amiable comfort to the likes of Tachycardia, and leavening the stark bleakness of Next Of Kin. The new songs, meanwhile, are no mere throwaways: Gossamer Thin a withering tale of “left-of-the-dial Bohemians” with “tracks down their arms”; Napalm a laudably rowdy Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues-tribute name-checking Himmler and Peckinpah; and Too Late To Fixate an acerbic meditation on meditation. Indeed, the increasingly salty bite of Oberst’s lyrics is only sharpened by the homely warmth of Salutations’ arrangements. Stevie Chick