The Fat Angel Sings

Last fall, Oberst says, he “crashed and burned.” In the middle of a tour, he ended up in the hospital for anxiety, exhaustion and laryngitis, and returned home to Omaha, Nebraska, to rest. “Out of the blue, songs started to arrive,” Oberst says. The result is a spare, emotional set recorded in just two days, with Oberst accompanying himself on piano, guitar and harmonica. “There was nothing to hide behind,” he says. “The songs are forced to stand on their own.”