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Apr 02, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Better Oblivion Community Center

Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) recently teamed up as the new band Better Oblivion Community Center and in January they surprise released their self-titled debut album via Dead Oceans. Last night during their show at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn they covered “Shallow,” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s hit Oscar-winning song from their hit movie A Star Is Born. Brooklyn Vegan got camera phone footage of the performance and you can watch the video below via them.

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. Then 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.” They also shared a video for “Dylan Thomas” directed by Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. Then they stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden to perform the album’s “Sleepwalkin’.” Then the band covered Death Cab for Cutie‘s “Title and Registration” at their Seattle show.

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:

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

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