The People's Key (2008-2011)
During 2008 and 2009, Oberst recorded music and toured in support of his other music projects, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and supergroup Monsters of Folk. In a June 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, Oberst announced that he wanted to "retire" the Bright Eyes moniker, and would be making one final album with the band: "It does feel like it needs to stop at some point. I'd like to clean it up, lock the door, say goodbye."
Saddle Creek Records reissued their Neva Dinova split One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels on March 23, 2010 with four brand-new songs recorded in late 2009.
On July 31, 2010, Bright Eyes teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska to put on a concert for equality in Omaha, Nebraska. The concert raised money for a federal lawsuit the ACLU filed against the city of Fremont, Nebraska for an ordinance the city passed on June 21, 2010 banning the hiring of or the rental of properties to illegal immigrants. At this show, Bright Eyes debuted a new song entitled "Coyote Song" about two lovers separated by the Mexico–United States border.
The band's new album titled The People's Key was released on February 15, 2011, Conor Oberst's birthday.
Conor Oberst has stated that the sound of The People's Key moves away from the folk sound that the band had accomplished on previous records. "We're over the Americana, rootsy, whatever that sound is. People say country but I never thought we were very country at all. But whatever that element is or that aesthetic is, I guess it's worn a little thin for me these days. So we very much wanted it to be rocking and, for lack of a better term, contemporary, or modern."
The video for the song "Shell Games" was released via Saddle Creek Records on both the band's YouTube channel and that of Saddle Creek, and features the band playing against various projections.
On February 24, the band performed "Jejune Stars" on the Late Show with David Letterman. They performed "Beginner's Mind" on The Tonight Show on April 14, 2011.
On June 10, Bright Eyes released the music video for "Jejune Stars". The video features the band playing in a desert with a firework rig behind them, spelling out selected lyrics as Oberst sings them.
In June, July, and August 2011 the band performed shows on tour with The Mountain Goats.
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Famous quotes containing the word people:
“No two people see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will often apply the same principle, recognized by both, differently. Even one and the same person won’t always maintain the same views and judgments: earlier convictions must give way to later ones.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)