Conor Oberst Solo Album

If you thought Conor Oberst was busy enough with Bright Eyes and his Saddle Creek and Team Love record labels, he'll be even busier when he drops a self-titled solo album on Aug. 5 through Merge Records.

The album is Oberst's first solo release since 1996's The Soundtrack To My Movie, which was released on (gasp!) cassette when Oberst was just (double gasp!) 16 years old. The self-produced new LP was recorded with engineer and longtime associate Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead. The two set up a temporary recording studio at Valle Mistico in Tepoztlan, Mexico and brought in singer/songwriter Nik Freitas, Bright Eyes member Nate Walcott and tour drummer Jason Boesel to play during the sessions.

They now call themselves The Mystic Valley Band, and they'll accompany Oberst on a tour that includes Canadian stops at the Calgary Folk Festival on July 27 and Vancouver's Richard's On Richards on July 29.

A clip of the group making the album and streams of "Danny Callahan" and "Souled Out!!!" can be accessed on Oberst's website.

If you think 16 is a young age to release an album, consider that Oberst released his Water debut when he was 13. He formed Commander Venus in 1994 with his friend Tim Kasher, who later formed Cursive. Oberst then launched another band, Norman Bailer, who morphed into The Faint. Bright Eyes formed a year later and, in 2001 and 2002, Oberst took time off from that group to record and tour with his punk side project, Desaparecidos.

Here are the tracks on Conor Oberst:

• "Cape Canaveral"
• "Sausalito"
• "Get-Well-Cards"
• "Lenders In The Temple"
• "Danny Callahan"
• "I Don't Want To Die (In The Hospital)"
• "Eagle On A Pole"
• "Moab"
• "NYC — Gone, Gone"
• "Valle Mistico (Ruben's Song)"
• "Souled Out!!!"
• "Milk Thistle"