Bright Eyes: Mike Mogis (12-string guitar); Conor Oberst, Nate Walcott.

Personnel: Mike Mogis (vocals, guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro, mandolin, ukulele, vibraphone, glockenspiel, percussion); Conor Oberst (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer); Andy LeMaster (vocals); Myka Miller (oboe); Nate Walcott (piano, electric piano, organ); Stephanie Drootin, Tim Luntzel, Dan McCarthy (bass instrument); Shane Aspegren (drums, percussion); Shane Aspegren (drums); Dan Fliegel, Jonathan Crawford, Dan Fliegel, Jonathan Crawford (percussion); M. Ward (vocals, guitar); Jason Boesel (vocals, drums); Hassan Lemtouni, Sean Foley, Gillian Welch, Rachael Yamagata, Jake Bellows, Ted Stevens, Sherri DuPree, Stacy DuPree, Z. Berg (vocals); David Rawlings (guitar); Anton Patzner (violin); Sarah Wass (flute); Brian Walsh (clarinet, bass clarinet); David Moyer (bass clarinet); Janet Weiss, Maria Taylor (drums); John McEntire (percussion, electronics); Dan Bitney, Michael Zerang, Clark Baechle (percussion); Suzie Katayama, Bill Meyers.

Audio Mixer: Mike Mogis.

Recording information: Arc Studios; Frosty The Studio; Presto!; STratosphere Sound, New York, NY; Supernatural Sound, Portland, OR.

It's clear that the year-plus Bright Eyes's Conor Oberst took between 2005's widely acclaimed I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING (and the simultaneously released DIGITAL ASH IN A DIGITAL URN) and 2007's CASSADAGA was well spent. The product of intensive studio time, a crack assembly of musicians, and lavish, lovely production and arrangements, CASSADAGA stands as one of Bright Eyes' most confident and consistent works.

The album throws together genres--folk, country, rock, pop--and coats it all in a gauzy dressing of strings, harmonies, and high-end atmospherics. Yet at the center of it all is still Obert's songwriting: witty, emotive, literate, and replete, this time out, with references to the expanse and grandeur of America as a playing field for life, love, and politics. At times reflective, at times rousing, CASSADAGA plays like a sweet pop dream, and adds another notch to Bright Eyes' already impressive discography.