The People's Key

The People's Key
Studio album by
Bright Eyes
ReleasedFebruary 15, 2011
StudioARC (Omaha)
Genre
Length46:58
LabelSaddle Creek
ProducerMike Mogis
Bright Eyes chronology
Cassadaga
(2007) 		The People's Key
(2011) 		Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
(2020)
Singles from The People's Key
  1. "Shell Games"
    Released: 2011
Singles from The People's Key: A Companion
  1. "When You Were Mine (Companion version)"
    Released: May 9, 2023

The People's Key is the ninth studio album by American band Bright Eyes. The album was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska at ARC Studios, produced by Mike Mogis, and engineered by Mogis and Andy LeMaster. The album was released on February 15, 2011, lead singer Conor Oberst's 31st birthday, by Saddle Creek Records.[1] Prior to its official release, the album was available to stream online in its entirety, as part of NPR's "First Listen" series.[2]

The album features guest artists Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead, Matt Maginn of Cursive, Carla Azar of Autolux, Clark Baechle of The Faint, Shane Aspegren of The Berg Sans Nipple, Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, and Denny Brewer of Refried Ice Cream.[3] The lyrics make mention of Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah and I and I; all things associated with Rastafari.

The album was reissued by Dead Oceans alongside a six-track companion EP on June 16, 2023.[4]

Packaging

According to designer Zack Nipper, the basic idea for the "wall of fire" design came from Conor Oberst, who wanted it to be "visually striking". The design was created using cut paper, similar to the cover for Every Day and Every Night, the first Bright Eyes release Nipper had worked on. Nipper stated that he "designed for vinyl first, then CD, and MP3 last, because that's the order in which viewing it matters."

The first 50,000 copies of this album came with a limited-edition packaging similar to that of all copies of the LP record, in a 6-panel tri-fold die-cut digipak printed on iridescent foil, and including an O-card, full-color CD inner sleeve and a 20-page booklet.

In January 2011, it was announced that The People's Key had won the Best Art Vinyl award.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Consequence of Sound[8]
Drowned in Sound[9]
NME[10]
No Ripcord6/10[11]
Paste7.5/10[12]
Pitchfork5.0/10[13]
PopMatters[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Spin[16]

The People's Key has received mixed to positive critical reception. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[6]

AllMusic praised its smaller scale and gave the album 3 and a 1/2 out of 5 stars.[7] Pitchfork gave the album 5 out of 10 and criticized the "impersonal" feel of the songs, yet praised "Ladder Song".[13] Slant Magazine gave the album 2 out of a possible 5 stars. No Ripcord gave the album a 6 out of 10 and commented, "There's not a lot fundamentally wrong with The People's Key; it's just that we know Bright Eyes can do better."[11] However, Drowned in Sound and NME gave the album 9 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 respectively,[9] with NME calling it a "sleek electro-tinged classic" and praising Oberst's more electric musical direction, saying it brought a "fresh strain of Bright Eyes record".[10]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200, and made it to number 7 on the Alternative Albums chart. The People's Key also reached number 46 on the UK Albums Chart.[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Conor Oberst, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Firewall"7:16
2."Shell Games"3:55
3."Jejune Stars"4:10
4."Approximate Sunlight"4:24
5."Haile Selassie"4:33
6."A Machine Spiritual (in the People's Key)"4:19
7."Triple Spiral"3:50
8."Beginner's Mind"3:55
9."Ladder Song"3:58
10."One for You, One for Me"6:38
Total length:46:58
iTunes pre-order edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Singularity"4:30
Deluxe pre-order edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Singularity"4:30
12."In the Real World"3:36
The People's Key: A Companion
No.TitleLength
1."Jejune Stars" (companion version)4:28
2."Firewall" (companion version)4:54
3."When You Were Mine" (Prince Rogers Nelson)4:55
4."Approximate Sunlight" (companion version)3:55
5."A Machine Spiritual (The People's Key)" (companion version)4:22
6."A Beginner's Mind" (companion version)3:36[18]

A limited edition deluxe edition contains MP3 file samples of various Saddle Creek artists.

Personnel

  • Conor Oberst – vocals, guitars, pianos and keyboards
  • Mike Mogis – guitars, pedal steel, effects, programming and percussion
  • Nate Walcott – synthesizers, pianos, organs and Mellotron
  • Andy LeMaster – vocals on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, guitar on tracks 4, 10, bass guitar on track 10
  • Matt Maginn – bass guitar on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
  • Carla Azar – drums, percussion on tracks 2, 6, 8
  • Clark Baechle – drums on tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7
  • Shane Agsperen – drums on track 10, additional drums on track 3, additional percussion on track 2
  • Laura Burhenn – vocals on tracks 4, 7, 8
  • Denny Brewer – shamanic vocals

Charts

Chart performance for The People's Key
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 55
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 36
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 67
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 42
Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] 49
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] 21
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 39
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 50
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 46
US Billboard 200[28] 13
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[29] 7
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 3

References

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom. "Bright Eyes Return With New Album", Pitchfork, November 30, 2010, accessed November 30, 2010.
  2. ^ NPR. "NPR First Listen: Bright Eyes — The People's Key", NPR, January 31, 2011, accessed January 31, 2011.
  3. ^ Smith, Bethany. "Bright Eyes’ releasing The People’s Key February 2011" Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Popwreckoning, November 30, 2010, accessed November 30, 2010.
  4. ^ Corcoran, Nina (May 9, 2023). "Bright Eyes Announce "Companion" Reissues of Cassadaga, Noise Floor, and The People's Key". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  5. ^ "The People's Key Wins Best Art Vinyl 2011".[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b "The People's Key". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  7. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The People's Key". AllMusic.
  8. ^ "Bright Eyes – The People's Key – Album Reviews". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
  9. ^ a b James Skinner. "Album Review: Bright Eyes – The People's Key". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2011-02-06. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
  10. ^ a b "NME Reviews - Album Review: Bright Eyes – The People's Key (Polydor)". NME. 11 February 2010.
  11. ^ a b Stanier, Joel (February 21, 2011). "Bright Eyes: The People's Key – Music Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  12. ^ "Bright Eyes: The People's Key Review". Paste.
  13. ^ a b "Bright Eyes". Pitchfork.
  14. ^ "Bright Eyes". PopMatters.
  15. ^ Jon Dolan (1 February 2011). "Bright Eyes The People's Key Album Review". Rolling Stone.
  16. ^ "Bright Eyes, 'The People's Key' (Saddle Creek)". Spin.
  17. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "The People's Key: A Companion - Bright Eyes". Bandcamp. Epic Games, Inc. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  19. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 28 February 2011" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1096). Australian Recording Industry Association: 6. May 30, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-30. Retrieved January 13, 2021 – via Pandora Archive.
  20. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Bright Eyes – The People's Key" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Bright Eyes – The People's Key" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  22. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bright Eyes – The People's Key" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bright Eyes – The People's Key" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  24. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Bright Eyes". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  25. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Bright Eyes – The People's Key". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  26. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Bright Eyes – The People's Key". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  27. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Bright Eyes – The People's Key". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  28. ^ "Bright Eyes Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  29. ^ "Bright Eyes Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  30. ^ "Bright Eyes Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  31. ^ "Bright Eyes Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2022.