Bright Eyes have shared a new song. The ska-inflected “1st World Blues” arrives with a Jared Sherbert-directed video that stars Conor Oberst alongside members of So So Glos and pro skater Nelly Morville. Watch it below.
“‘1st World Blues’ is an homage to ska in all its waves,” the band said in a press statement. “From Desmond Decker to Tim Armstrong, we’re just happy to add our track to the bin. The video is inspired by NYC ’90s hip hop, which like ska, has a long tradition of unifying people & using celebratory music to convey subversive political themes. To be played loud. Windows down. Summertime.”
Bright Eyes released the album Five Dice, All Threes last year. In March, Oberst & co. teamed up with Cursive for the Bandcamp-exclusive single “Recluse I Don’t Have to Love,” a mashup of their respective songs “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” and “The Recluse,” with all proceeds going to Bright Eyes’ own LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization Poison Oak Project.
Bright Eyes will resume their ongoing North American tour on August 26 in Ojai, California. The band was previously forced to cancel their 2024 dates as Oberst reportedly sought treatment for vocal problems. Scroll down to see all of Bright Eyes’ upcoming shows.
Revisit Marc Hogan’s review of Bright Eyes’ 2020 album Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, and read about Conor Oberst in “The 200 Most Important Artists of Pitchfork’s First 25 Years.”
Bright Eyes:
08-26 Ojai, CA - Libbey Bowl
08-27 Sonoma, CA - Gundlach Bundschu Winery
08-28 Forest Grove, OR - McMenamins Grand Lodge
08-29 Vancouver, British Columbia - Malkin Bowl
08-30 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot 2025
09-01 Boise, ID - Treefort Music Hall
09-02 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
09-03 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues Las Vegas
11-27 Singapore, Singapore - Capitol Theatre
12-03 Osaka, Japan - Yogibo Meta Valley
12-04 Tokyo, Japan - Ex Theater Roppongi
Not for the first time, Moby is speaking out against Donald Trump’s administration with clear frustration.
“The U.S. is collapsing under a deeply corrupt and shockingly ineffective administration,” the longtime electronic musician shared on social media. “These are unbelievably dark times.”
Moby went deeper into his thoughts through a video message, where he explained that people outside the United States keep asking Americans what is actually happening in the country.
“So many of my friends outside the United States keep asking me, ‘what the hell is happening over there?’ And honestly, we don’t even know,” he said. “The country is being controlled by one of the most corrupt, dangerous and incompetent administrations imaginable. Nobody fully understands what’s happening right now. These are very dark times in America.”
Moby joins a growing list of artists publicly criticizing Trump and MAGA politics, including Bruce Springsteen, Jack White, Eminem and Billie Eilish.
Earlier this year, Moby uploaded another statement to social media where he addressed how people should respond following the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis. “The real question isn’t whether people should feel horrified or outraged by what’s happening in the United States,” Moby explained in the Jan. 26 clip. “The question is what are we actually going to do about it?”
The musician and activist also encouraged people to protest, saying demonstrations are a constitutional right and something he believes Trump’s administration is attempting to weaken.
In the end, he urged people to vote regularly, “not only during the upcoming midterms, even though those matter, but also in every special election throughout the year.” He also encouraged supporters to “stop giving money to the scumbag corporations backing Trump and ICE. We all know who they are. Boycott them.”
His newest remarks arrive as the U.S. Justice Department unveils a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for Trump allies who claim they were unfairly investigated. At the same time, the Strait of Hormuz remains shut down following military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in late February without approval from Congress, leading to rising gas prices across the globe.
Throughout his independent music career, Moby has earned 10 entries on the Billboard 200 along with two songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and an enormous catalog of sync placements. Overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom, he is viewed as one of the defining artists of his era. He scored two No. 1 albums there with Play from 1999 and 18 from 2002, alongside 18 top 40 singles and two nominations for Best International Male at the BRIT Awards.
Check out Moby’s newest social media post below.
