It’s hard to listen to a Bright Eyes album without comparing it to what many reviewers and fans call their best, I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning—the folk half of a 2004-2005 double release. The band has continued to embrace a folk sound in the six years since the release of I’m Wide Awake, but The People’s Key combines frontman Conor Oberst’s warbling vocals and guitar with more digitized and pop elements that take the album in a very different direction than the band’s recent releases.

Those unfamiliar with Oberst, either in Bright Eyes or as a solo performer, may be turned off by his singing style, which, along with his introspective and political lyrics, has often been compared to Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, Oberst’s voice works best when accompanied by acoustic guitar and twangy strings, and on The People’s Key, Oberst’s foray back into more rock and electronic music becomes tedious.

On the album, Oberst continues to express his opinions about contemporary social and political issues (“Haile Selassie”) alongside more personal tracks like “Approximate Sunlight,” but the album’s overall feeling is one of detachment and emptiness. Considering that Oberst rarely holds back, the impersonal quality of The People’s Key leaves something to be desired. Especially for those who know Oberst’s work, The People’s Key marks a shift in Bright Eyes’s sound away from the Americana that made Oberst a mainstay of indie rock, and the results are far from satisfying.