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Conor Oberst Previews Solo Album With Jaunty ‘Hundreds of Ways’

Conor Oberst, 'Upside Down Mountain,' May 20

“I hope I am forgotten when I die,” Conor Oberst insists on “Hundreds of Ways,” the initial listen from upcoming solo album Upside Down Mountain. One of SPIN’s 50 Albums You Gotta Hear in 2014, the May 20 Nonesuch Records release will be Oberst’s first proper solo album since 2008’s self-titled set and his first album of new material, period, since Bright Eyes’ 2011 LP The People’s Key.

The lyrical sentiment might be a surprising one from an artist who has been releasing music since before he could get a driver’s license, but it captures this buoyant track’s live-in-the-moment uplift. The title refers to ways to get “through the day,” and Oberst — who, according to Rolling Stone, recorded with Father John Misty producer Jonathan Wilson and guest vocalists First Aid Kit in Nashville — offers a few of them here: indie-folk storytelling, alt-country twang, and cosmpolitan-pop brass that brings to mind the last Iron & Wine record.

“Hundreds of Ways” is out on vinyl on April 19 as a Record Store Day 2014 exclusive, backed by non-album track “Fast Friends.” Listen below, and scroll down for dates with Dawes, including stops at New York’s Central Park and Oberst’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

//www.youtube.com/embed/LpyNydatVwQ

Conor Oberst tour dates with Dawes:

May 8 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
May 9 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
May 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
May 11 – Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall
May 13 – Ponte Vedra, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
May 14 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
May 16 – Gulf Shores, AL @ The Hangout Festival
May 17 – Chattanooga, TN @ Track 29
May 22 – Westbury, NY @ The Space at Westbury
May 23 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 24 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 25 – Munhall, PA @ Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead
May 27 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
May 29 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
May 30 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
May 31 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
June 1 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
June 2 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
June 4 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
June 5 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note
June 6 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
June 7 – Lexington, KY @ Buster’s
July 29 – New York, NY @ Central Park Summer Stage at Rumsey Playfield