Watch Conor Oberst play an intimate bookstore show to celebrate Ruminations

Singer-songwriter Conor Oberst recently put on a very personal performance at Housing Works Bookstore in New York to celebrate his new record Ruminations. Looking through his lens of helplessness and worry, Oberst easily entertained a friendly atmosphere of fans with three tracks off of the new record.

With a recent health scare in the form of a brain cyst, Oberst moved back home to Omaha and would eventually make the record in a 48 hour recording session, resulting in a reflective collection of songs about his situation.

Returning to Housing Works seems like a perfect homecoming, electing to emphasize piano and harmonica while accompanied by Miwi La Lupa’s simple backing. Oberst was able to capture the emotion leading up and expressed on this record, as his true poetic chops are easy to ingest and understand.

The full show will be released in the near future, but for now NPR had released three album-defining songs “Tachycardia,” “Gossamer Thin” and “A Little Uncanny.” You can watch below, and listen to Ruminations, now out on Nonesuch Records.