It's clear that the year-plus Bright Eyes's Conor Oberst took between 2005's widely acclaimed I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING (and the simultaneously released DIGITAL ASH IN A DIGITAL URN) and 2007's CASSADAGA was well spent. The product of intensive studio time, a crack assembly of musicians, and lavish, lovely production and arrangements, CASSADAGA stands as one of Bright Eyes' most confident and consistent works. The album throws together genres--folk, country, rock, pop--and coats it all in a gauzy dressing of strings, harmonies, and high-end atmospherics. Yet at the center of it all is still Obert's songwriting: witty, emotive, literate, and replete, this time out, with references to the expanse and grandeur of America as a playing field for life, love, and politics. At times reflective, at times rousing, CASSADAGA plays like a sweet pop dream, and adds another notch to Bright Eyes' already impressive discography.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Internal ID: JITRE
• Released: 11/18/2016