Bright Eyes - Letting Off The Happiness: A Companion

Opaque gold vinyl 12-inch EP!

Six tracks featuring newly recorded versions of classic songs from the era of Letting Off The Happiness!

Featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee, M. Ward and more!

Revered band Bright Eyes have announced an extensive reissue / re-recording project on Dead Oceans for 2022. The revered band, who moved their entire recording catalog over to the Secretly Group label last year, have unveiled plans to issue EPs from all nine of their studio albums as a Companion series with additional recordings created together at their ARC Studios in Omaha.

The Companion series gives Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott a chance to revisit some of their earlier material and re-work it entirely — with the occasional addition of some talented friends. This ambitious project will see the release of 54 new recordings over the coming year.

First to receive the Companion treatment are Bright Eyes' first three albums — A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, Letting Off The Happiness (initially released in 1998) and the now iconic 2000 LP Fevers and Mirrors.

Bright Eyes began in 1995 as a recording moniker for a then 15-year old Conor Oberst's work with producer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis. Mogis and composer/ arranger/ multi-instrumentalist Nathaniel Walcott became fully fledged members in 2006. Throughout the course of 23 years the music's impact and influence has been significant; Bright Eyes' songs have been covered by dozens of artists, including Lorde, The Killers, Mac Miller, Dave Rawlings & Gillian Welch, Phoebe Bridgers, Snow Patrol, Jason Mraz and beabadoobee.

"It's a meaningful way to connect with the past that doesn't feel totally nostalgic and self-indulgent," says Conor Oberst of the ambitious series. "I thought it was a cool concept," Oberst says. "Then I realized it's nine records, six songs a piece, so that's like 54 different songs you have to record!"

"We are taking these songs and making them interesting to us all over again. I like that. I like a challenge. I like to be forced to do something that's slightly hard, just to see if we can."

1. The Difference in the Shades (Companion Version)

2. The City Has Sex (Companion Version)

3. Contrast and Compare (Companion Version)

4. Kathy with a K's Song (Companion Version)

5. St. Ides Heaven

6. June on the West Coast (Companion Version)

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