Decemberists Divide The World In Two

Four years seems like a long time between albums, especially for a talent like Colin Meloy and company, but The Decemberists didn't squander a minute of it. While bandmate Jenny Conlee was diagnosed with breast cancer (now in remission), Meloy explored his relationships at home and took time out to be a father.

The exploration proved to inspiring for the musician/writer. While working to provide the best possible education for their eldest child Hank, who is autistic, he wrote the bestselling Wildwood series of children's novels. His wife illustrated it.

More than that, the hiatus also provided Meloy with ample time to reflect on the last six albums and come full circle. Expect comparisons to their first album more than any other. The storytelling in the new album is more fantastical amidst a backdrop of alternative rock with Americana, British folk, and pop influences. And the return to these roots has been therapeutic in a sense, with Meloy being open about his work beginning to feel too much like a career and not enough about self-expression.

What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. 

There is no mistaking this seventh album as more expressive as Meloy embraces the best and worst of the human experience capsulized into pop songs ranging from three to five minutes. And yet, some of it is surprisingly intimate too, with the opener an explanation for the album set to music.

"We know you grew your arms around us in the hope we wouldn't change," sings Meloy. "But we had to change some, you know, to belong to you."

The directness of it is almost off-putting in its expectedness, yet Meloy manages to deliver it with a conviction that is both sad and authentic, bold and truthful. The spell is quickly broken, however, by Cavalry Captain and Philomena. Both carry an uptempo pop punch, with the latter bringing in some elements of whimsy into the lyrics and composition.

While this whimsy may represent the beautiful side of the world that Meloy has chosen to write about, The Decemberists still seem to be a band better suited to the deeper complexities of Portland. It's tracks like Make You Better and Lake Song that provide addictive glimpses into the soul of the songwriter.

It's also on this track, Lake Song, where the album takes a turn toward the deep and intricate tones that the band is so adept at expressing through Meloy's melodies and the musicianship of Chris Funk, John Moen, Nate Query, and Conlee. Till The Water's All Gone, The Water Year, and Carolina Low all conjure up the unique musical complexities that have put the band on the map.

While there are some bleats of happiness between those and the end of the album, The Decemberists build upon their brooding seriousness, reading a crescendo with the song 12-17-12. The band captures the  horrific school shooting at Newtown, Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School with a startling but sensitive sobriety. It's one those songs you don't expect to appreciate for its subject matter, but you will anyway. The conclusion, A Beginning Song, offers an uplift and to leave on a note of recovery.

What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World Drifts 7.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale. 

What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World contains some sensational songwriting with elements that are recognizable from across their career, with an emphasis on their earlier work as it might have sounded with the experience they possess today. Although the subject matter makes the album sound uneven if played from the top down, the net sum is far greater than that one annoyance. 

Still, the variance (loved or not) is an indication that the band hasn't become a commodity. They are songwriters, composers, and masterful musicians who have something to say. The shock of it.

What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World by The Decemberists is available on Amazon. You can also download select songs or the album from iTunes. For this album and the band's entire catalog, visit independent entertainment store F.Y.E. The Decemberists will be on tour to support their album. Visit Facebook for their upcoming tour schedule.

A Decade With The Decemberists Down By The Water

It seems like forever since Colin Meloy left Tarkio in Montana and made his move to Portland. Officially, the band was hardly a band before the self-release of a five-song EP that the band raised money for by playing at the McMenamins hotel in order to buy studio time for the following day.

Their newest effort, The King Is Dead, will be available on Jan. 18. But the release of their new single, Down By The Water, shows that the indie band that rolled out of Portland is anything but dead. If the single is any indication of what is to come, expect The Decemberists to serve up something a little less restrained and more meaningful across an entire album.

With the single, singer/songwriter Meloy still delivers dynamic vocals against the sharper, sometimes choppy sounds banged out by Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (Hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards), Nate Query (bass, string bass), and John Moen (drums, backing vocals, melodica). They haven't lost their sense of humor either, suggesting the release date has meaning.

"If you take away the slashes, that reads 11811," writes the band on their Website. "What does that mean? Must you ask? Clearly it is a snowman surrounded by a colonnade of waving banners."

Snowmen aside, The Decemberists will be joined by Peter Buck of R.E.M. appearing on three of the tracks. While he has worked as a session musician for The Replacements before, there is some hope his distinctive style will shine through. It seems likely, as Meloy says, that R.E.M. inspired some of the material.

Also joining in on The King Is Dead is Gillian Welch for seven tracks, which may suggest a darker, busier sound that Meloy has said contributes to a more American vibe than his frequently English-inspired music. Regardless, it is expected to be raw from beginning to end, with the recordings captured in a converted barn by Tucker Martine. He produced The Hazards Of Love in 2009, which was a thoughtful concept album with one solid single, The Rake's Song.


While Down By The Water is the lead single for the album, The Decemberists did play three of the upcoming songs while opening for Neko Case and Bob Dylan in September. Rise To Me and June Hymn, which have been kicked around the net from a solo performance, capture the leanings.

Both are powerful, but June Hymn is something anyone with a taste for indie folk rock will want to add to their must buy list. It's brilliant. The R.E.M influence is especially pronounced, but in a way that only Meloy can deliver, making it almost certain the album will deserve another visit in January.

The Decemberists' Single Down By The Water Surges To 8.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale

Whereas Hazards of Love was said not to capture any converts, especially from those who had written the band off as precocious, I don't see any critics making this claim with the upcoming The King Is Dead album. Meloy has certainly learned something over the past decade. They seemed poised to release their best album yet with Capitol Records.

You can pick up Down By The Water on iTunes. You can also find Down By The Water on Amazon, where it has slowly been climbing up in sales but has yet to be rated.