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Conor Oberst Announces A New Album — Yes, Another One

Conor Oberst's new album, <em>Salutations</em>, comes out March 17.
Courtesy of the artist
Conor Oberst's new album, Salutations, comes out March 17.

That didn't take long. Five months after the release of Ruminations, a raw-boned solo record, Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst will return with a companion piece titled Salutations. The new set, out March 17, will feature all 10 songs from last fall's album — reworked with full-band arrangements — and seven additional tracks.

The songs on Ruminations, according to Oberst, were always meant to be heard with a band; he says the enthusiastic response to the solo versions led him to go a different route. Now, they'll be heard the way they were first intended to sound, with the help of a backing band consisting of The Felice Brothers and veteran drummer Jim Keltner. (Guests on Salutations include Gillian Welch, M. Ward, Maria Taylor, Blake Mills and Jim James, among others.)

Hear the first taste of Salutations, a reworked Ruminations track titled "A Little Uncanny":

Salutations Track Listing

  • Too Late To Fixate
  • Gossamer Thin
  • Overdue
  • Afterthought
  • Next Of Kin
  • Napalm
  • Mamah Borthwick (A Sketch)
  • Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out
  • Barbary Coast (Later)
  • Tachycardia
  • Empty Hotel By The Sea
  • Anytime Soon
  • Counting Sheep
  • Rain Follows The Plow
  • You All Loved Him Once
  • A Little Uncanny
  • Salutation
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    Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)