“Potential, you’re a loaded line,” opens the 29-year-old indie songwriter in “Slowly (Oh So Slowly),” a rock-enthused number that mixes rowdy with playful and features Oberst’s patented metaphor-doused reflection.
Potential may seem like a dismissible idea to Oberst, who’s 10-plus years ascent to stardom has been seamless, granting him showers of praise and Bob Dylan comparisons, and winning him Rolling Stone’s Top Songwriter award in 2008. But on “Outer South,” we see Oberst side-stepping the reigns and letting band mates Nik Freitas, Taylor Hollingsworth, and Jason Boesel sew their vocal seed.
“Big Black Nothing” features a haunted Freitas sporting his Tom Petty camouflage in a tension-mounting groove that seeps into Hollingsworth’s tongue in cheek, “Air Mattress,” an innocent plea with spunky synths that Elvis Costello could call his own.
Still, the tracks where Oberst does take the vocal lead tend to dwarf his collaborators throughout the disc. While it’s not totally apparent who wrote which songs, Oberst’s magical ability to transcend intimacy and sing as if he was in the flesh and not echoing through a speaker (“White Shoes,” “Ten Women”) is what truly brings weight to all the Dylan references and makes “Outer South” memorable.
“To All the Lights in The Windows” takes props from R.E.M’s “Bang and Blame,” but it’s not a bad thing.
Outside of just a few different cuts, “Outer South” actually keeps Oberst’s usual plaintive melodies on the down low and marches towards a more optimistic appeal. With a blend of different vocalists and six contributing members, The Mystic Valley Band sit well next to Oberst and help him chisel another accomplished notch on his songwriting belt.
