New Decemberists!
The Decemberists are one of those bands that manage to lift me out of my dull contemporary setting and send me headfirst into a more genteel past. The songs force you to close your eyes and enter their world for the duration, and that’s an attention-grabbing quality I appreciate in any band.
They’re also outstanding live. I saw them with some friends a few years ago in Tempe. They were in full command of their audience, and Colin Meloy sounded just as good in person as he does on record (a real feat in the Marquee Theatre, a location not known for quality sound). I remember that toward the end of the set, he sang us a sort of lullaby, and asked everyone to slowly shrink down to the floor as though we were taking a nap. When I looked around me, there were perhaps 4 people who didn’t immediately follow his instructions (in the case of many, I’m sure it wasn’t even a conscious decision). He was that good.
So imagine my happiness upon hearing that we’re just 2 months shy of their fifth LP hitting stores. And that the first single is being offered up as a free download! Just visit www.decemberists.com and provide your email and zip code. That’s it! You’ll have to wait until March 24th to hear their new record, Hazards of Love, in its entirely, but this is a nice appetizer to hold you over.
The Decemberists – When The War Came
From The Crane Wife
Hazards of Love Tracklist:
1. Prelude
2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen’s Approach
7. Isn’t it a Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake’s Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
Tags: decemberists
The Decemberists are definitely a great live band. Amen to that. And I’m personally looking forward to this disc quite a bit. However, a confession: “When the War Came” is probably my least favorite song on The Crane Wife.
Hey Jeff!
Really? It’s one of my favorites on that album. There’s something about the line ‘And the war came with all the poise of a cannonball’ that I just love. Still, plenty of other tracks on ‘The Crane Wife’ to love! Though I’m probably a bigger fan of ‘Her Majesty’ overall. I’d just been listening to this song a lot lately.
this news makes me happy. i pretty much by-passed the crane wife for inexplicable reasons, but i really liked picaresque and loved castaways and cutouts, so i will definitely pick this one up.