Bright Eyes announce second wave of album reissues and Companion EPs

Bright Eyes kicked off their reissue series with the releases of A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, Letting Off The Happiness and Fevers and Mirrors in May, and today (10 August) they’ve announced the second round of reissues, which features 2002’s Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, 2005’s I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.

Like the first three reissues, each album will be teamed with a Companion EP, which will include reworked songs from the original albums, as well as a cover of an artist they “found particularly inspiring at the time of the original recording.”

As well as announcing the new reissues, Bright Eyes have released three Companion songs “You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.” from Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, “Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)” from I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and “Gold Mine Gutted” from the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn Companion EP.

The forthcoming Companion EPs will feature contributions from Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, Becky Stark, and Maria Taylor, and will include covers of Azure Ray’s “November”, Townes Van Zandt’s “Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel” and the Faint’s “Agenda Suicide”.

LIFTED or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground: A Companion Tracklist:

1. The Big Picture
2. You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
3. Laura Laurent
4. Nothing Gets Crossed Out
5. November
6. Waste Of Paint

I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning: A Companion Tracklist:

1. Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)
2. First Day of My Life
3. Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel
4. We Are Nowhere And It’s Now
5. Road To Joy
6. Land Locked Blues

Digital Ash In A Digital Urn: A Companion Tracklist:

1. Hit The Switch
2. Down In A Rabbit Hole
3. Arc Of Time (Time Code)
4. Ship In A Bottle
5. Agenda Suicide
6. Gold Mine Gutted

Bright Eyes will release the second wave of reissues and Companion EPs on 11 November via Dead Oceans. Pre-order now from secretlystore.com. They’ll headline End of the Road 2022 on 4 September.