• News

• All

Jan 29, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Conor Oberst

Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) have teamed up as the new band Better Oblivion Community Center and last week they surprise released their self-titled debut album via Dead Oceans (it’s out on CD/vinyl February 22). Now the duo has shared a video for “Dylan Thomas.” Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner directed the clip, which features Bridgers and Oberst attend a weird cult-like party. Watch it below. The band have also announced their first tour dates, which are below too.

Zauner had this to say about the video in a press release: “Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst are two of my favorite songwriters and lyricists of our time, so it was an honor to get to work with them on the visuals for their new project together. As always I worked with Adam Kolodny, my DP and creative collaborator to bring this cross between an Eyes Wide Shut LA mansion party and the Great Northern Hotel to life.”

The band previously stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to announce the project and perform the album’s “Dylan Thomas.” “Dylan Thomas” was also one of our Songs of the Week. On Saturday they stopped by CBS This Morning to perform three songs from the album: “Dylan Thomas,” “Didn’t Know What I Was In For,” and “My City.”

The album features the following players: Phoebe Bridgers (vocals, baritone guitar), Conor Oberst (vocals, piano), Nick Zinner (guitar), Carla Azar (drums, percussion), Anna Butterss (upright bass), Christian Lee Hutson (guitar), Andy LeMaster (samples), and Taylor Hollingsworth (sampled voice).

Phoebe Bridgers, Conor Oberst, and Andy LeMaster produced the album, which was engineered by LeMaster at Fivestar Studio in Los Angeles and mixed by John Congleton. Bridgers and Oberst wrote all the songs except for “Chesapeake” and “Forest Lawn,” which were written by Bridgers, Oberst, and Christian Lee Hutson, and “Dominos,” which was written by Taylor Hollingsworth. The project was teased via a hotline you could call to get a strange answering machine message.

Bridgers released her debut album, Stranger in the Alps, back in September 2017 via Dead Oceans and then released a deluxe digital version in October 2018, also via Dead Oceans. Last year Bridgers also teamed up with fellow singer/songwriters Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to form supergroup Boygenius, whose self-titled debut EP was released in October via Matador. Bridgers and Oberst have collaborated before, for example he sang on Stranger in the Alps’ “Would You Rather” and appeared in the song’s video.

Read our 2017 exclusive interview with Phoebe Bridgers and check out our photo-shoot with her.

Better Oblivion Community Center Tour Dates:

3/08 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater #
3/09 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse #
3/10 - San Diego, CA @ Music Box #
3/11 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont Theater #
3/14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom #
3/15 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall #
3/16 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir #
3/17 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s #
3/19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro #
3/20 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird # *
3/21 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown # *
3/22 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line # *
3/23 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall # *
3/25 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom # *
3/26 - Pittsuburgh, PA @ Mr Smalls # *
3/28 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair # *
3/29 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom # *
3/30 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg # *
3/31 - Providence, RI @ Columbus Theater # *
4/02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer # . *
4/03 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat # *
4/04 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle # *
4/05 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle # *
4/06 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West # *
4/07 - Nashville, TN @ Basement East # *
4/09 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk # *
4/10 - Dallas, TX @ Trees Lounge # *
4/12 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf # *
4/13 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent # *
4/29 - Helsinki, Finland @The House of Culture
5/01 - Oslo, Norway @ Rockerfeller
5/02 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Berns
5/03 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
5/05 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theater
5/06 - Cologne, Germany @ Kantine
5/07 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
5/08 - Antwerp, Belgium @ De Roma
5/10 - Bristol, UK @ 02 Academy Bristol
5/11 - London, UK @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire
5/12 - Manchester, UK @ Ritz

# - support from Christian Lee Hutson
* - support from Lala Lala

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.