Album: Bright Eyes & Neva Dinova, One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels (Saddle Creek)

Originally released in 2004, One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels was a six-track collaborative effort between Conor Oberst's Bright Eyes and their Omaha, Nebraska label-mates Neva Dinova.

The two bands took turns to accompany each other on what seemed to be paired songs viewing similar circumstances from different aspects: Neva Dinova's "Tripped" and Bright Eyes' "Black Comedy" both faced the tribulations of break-up with equally jaundiced eyes. With the futility of sustaining doomed relationships an apparent shared concern throughout, it made for rather gloomy listening. Last year, the bands reunited to write and record four songs, which, though little cheerier, have the advantage of more accomplished accompaniment – a boon especially when dealing with Oberst's breathless, urgent verbosity on "Happy Accident", which contains the devastating observation "I heard you scream in your mother's voice/So afraid you'd become her in the end". Neva Dinova's "Rollerskating" and "Someone's Love" are exercises in glum, folksy pop, while the standout track, Bright Eyes' "I Know You", uses poignant pipe organ to carry Oberst's reflections on how ambition is sabotaged by low standards.

Download this: I Know You; Happy Accident; I'll Be Your Friend; Black Comedy