We last heard from erstwhile Bright Eyes mastermind Conor Oberst when his reunited punk band Desaparecidos released a surprisingly strong album called Payola last year. And now Oberst has announced a new solo album, the follow-up to his 2014 LP Upside Down Mountain. Oberst recorded the new LP Ruminations while holed up this past winter in his Omaha hometown, where he’d returned after spending a decade in New York.

A press release calls Ruminations a “raw, unadorned” album featuring Oberst alone with his guitar, piano, and harmonica, and recorded in two days. And here’s what Oberst himself says about it:

I wasn’t expecting to write a record. I honestly wasn’t expecting to do much of anything. Winter in Omaha can have a paralyzing effect on a person but in this case it worked in my favor. I was just staying up late every night playing piano and watching the snow pile up outside the window. Next thing I knew I had burned through all the firewood in the garage and had more than enough songs for a record. I recorded them quick to get them down but then it just felt right to leave them alone.

Oberst’s raw, intense, home-recorded Bright Eyes music is the whole reason we started liking him in the first place, so this seems pretty promising! Here’s the tracklist:

TRACKLIST:
01 “Tachycardia”
02 “Barbary Coast (Later)”
03 “Gossamer Thin”
04 “Counting Sheep”
05 “Mamah Borthwick (A Sketch)”
06 “The Rain Follows The Plow”
07 “A Little Uncanny”
08 “Next Of Kin”
09 “You All Loved Him Once:
10 “Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out”

Ruminations is out 10/14 on Nonesuch. Live dates begin later this month:

08/18 – Grand Island, NE @ 309 N Pine Street
08/20 – Lyons, CO @ Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
09/28 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont Theatre
10/01 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
10/02 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
10/03 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/05 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Company
10/07 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
10/08 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
11/06 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
11/17 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall *
11/23 – New York, NY @ Carnegie Hall *
11/26 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall (SOLD OUT) *
11/27 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall (SOLD OUT) *
12/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church *
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (SOLD OUT) *

*Solo shows
Miwi La Lupa supporting 9/28 & 10/1
Anna McClellan supporting 9/28
Jim James supporting 10/1
Pearl Charles supporting 10/2-10/7
Simon Joyner supporting 11/23

CREDIT: Amélie Raoul