Conor Oberst’s new, six-minute music video is one part Spike Jonze’s Her, two parts George Orwell’s 1984. Like Samantha in Her, a female, computerized interviewer tries to convince Oberst that he can converse with her on a personal level, wishing him happy birthday and asking him follow-up questions about habit.
Our review Oberst’s latest album, Upside Down Mountain paints the folk piece as an arc that walks the line between minimalist and raw emotion. His subtlety in songwriting is not lost with this new music video. In fact, Oberst is practically expressionless the entire time, his face blank and his voice almost a parody of disengaged-musician-doing-10th-interview-today.
Oberst ends his current tour in October, which includes a month of European dates and a performance at Newport Folk Festival. Check out his full schedule here.