Bright Eyes embrace imperfection and raw energy on Five Dice, All Threes

On Five Dice, All Threes, he leans into it, letting chance and emotional rawness guide the sound of another classic Bright Eyes record. Here, Oberst grapples with the existential crises that pervade much of his work, but this time from a place of maturity – or perhaps a more acute, albeit jaded, awareness of time passing and things changing beyond his control. Having witnessed the evolution of indie music firsthand, he remains its melancholic poet laureate, even as artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Adrianne Lenker have carried forward the torch of confessional songwriting. Oberst’s influence is undeniable, having paved the way for a new generation of indie folk and emo-adjacent acts. This album reaffirms that, reminding us that even in a landscape dominated by newer voices, his signature style of storytelling still resonates just as powerfully as ever.

Whereas Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was was the band’s grand, orchestrally-driven, and meticulously produced return after a 9-year hiatus, Five Dice, All Threes finds Oberst and bandmates Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott reuniting with an intentional focus on capturing the raw energy of each song with live recorded mixes (many of the tracks bring to mind a more frenetic version of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning). And just like any Bright Eyes record, a sound collage opens up the album: a handful of dice land on a table as a candid conversation between friends playing “threes” unfolds. Landing all five dice on threes is a game of chance; likewise, the band here was willing to let go of control in the writing and recording process, improvising to create something that feels less produced but more endearing, as they opted for first takes over perfect takes.

“Rainbow Pass” is pure, classic Bright Eyes, bringing forward a punk-folk sound with Alex Orange Drink, the frontman of the New York punk band The So So Glos. “All Threes” stands out with its jazzy piano, featuring soulful vocals from Cat Power, adding depth and texture to the mainly emo and punk flecked folk of the album. Hearing Matt Berninger of The National on “The Time I Have Left” is an unexpected but great addition. Oberst and Berninger’s trembling voices compliment each other surprisingly well, blending to evoke some of the saddest, weary sounds on the album, as Oberst sings “I don’t want to go there / You don’t want to come / stepped on a landmine, light exploding,” and the repeated words in the chorus, “I would like to ask you the time / I have left.” The song doesn’t go too much further than that lyrically, and for a talented songwriter like Oberst, it’s a missed opportunity to showcase more of his lyricism. However, Mogis’s production on the track makes it stand out, warping the vocals and pushing the song in new directions.

“Hate” finds Oberst at his most nihilistic, as he shares his thoughts in a jaded, biting tone of resignation from the world, with lines that are as cynical as they are detached (“Don’t you know the bad guys always win?” he repeats). As the song progresses, Oberst delves deeper into personal disillusionment, shifting from theological targets to self-loathing, calling out the artificiality of societal norms (“I hate making small talk, begging for some change”) and confronting his own reflection as he sings, “I hate the protest singer, staring at me in the mirror.” At this moment, Oberst questions the value of his own art and activism. Yet, in true Bright Eyes fashion, the song’s stark honesty forces us to confront our own discomfort, making “Hate” one of the album’s most challenging but thought-provoking tracks.

With Five Dice, All Threes, Bright Eyes prove they can still evoke both intimacy and grandiosity without sacrificing the imperfect edges that made their early work so compelling. The album invites us to embrace the messiness of life’s unresolved questions, making this another worthy addition to the Bright Eyes catalog.