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Conor Oberst, most known for his role as frontman of the band Bright Eyes, got his musical start at 13. Dubbed “rock's boy genius” and other early hyped-up epithets, he has been poised for greatness since his first trembling four-track recordings hit the scene over ten years ago.

Considered by his fans to be the musician of our generation, Oberst is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful songwriters to hit the scene in recent history. His intensely personal writing style has had the troubled psyche of American youth ravenously gobbling up his releases. In the latest of these, Oberst has broken with his longtime outfit Bright Eyes and struck out on his own alongside his new group of musicians, the Mystic Valley Band.

Recorded in a makeshift studio in Tepoztlán, Morales, Mexico--in a spot known for UFOs and sightings of the paranormal--the new album evokes the harmonized chillness of such a relaxed, faraway spot. He'll be playing tracks from the new record along with the Mystic Valley Band on August 10 at the NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia. it! had the opportunity to talk with Conor last week about growing up as a songwriter, the future of the human race and the meaning of some of the more obscure lyrics off his latest release.

it!: First of all, in both this new release and off “Cassadaga” it seems there has been a shift in your style from your former albums--just kind of more mellow and whatnot--and I was wondering what you think accounted for that shift in sound from the older music you were making?

CO: I think growing up is probably the biggest reason. Songs I was writing when I was 18, 19, 20 years old are quite different in space, mentally, and just in every way in my life, y'know? Getting older kind of changes what comes out creatively.

it!: Right. And one of the changes in your past two albums has been an increased reference to I guess what you could call apocalyptic themes. In a track off the new album, for instance, you reference having fallen asleep during “the dusk of man.” What do you think is in store for the next couple hundred years of the human race?