The King Is Dead - The Decemberists
Moldy | Stale | Edible | Fresh | Tasty!
Tasty Tracks: January Hymn, Calamity Song, Rox in the Box
Colin Meloy, frontman of the Decemberists, has always seemed to look outwards for inspiration, culminating in the (somewhat justified) wild excesses of 2009′s rock opera The Hazards of Love. This seems unlikely to change, but on new release The King is Dead Meloy’s focus changes from the literary, anglophile basis of his previous works to something that is unabashedly Americana. It isn’t just the album art, which features a forest scene that looks to be something from the American west, or the guest stars, including R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck (on ‘Calamity Song’) and bluegrass/Americana singer Gillian Welch, or even the sparser songwriting, but a combination of all these factors and a more personal style of songwriting that places the album in the vein of American folk classics. The album still features some of the narratives that Meloy has practiced writing about throughout his career, but they are no longer focused on faraway lands and legionaries. ‘Rox in the Box’ is about the mining community of Butte, Montana, near where Meloy grew up. The album instead focus on being more encompassing and pastoral, with two songs, ‘January Hymn’ and ‘June Hymn’ specifically describing moments of interaction between nature and the narrator.
The Decemberists’ newfound appreciation of American music is readily apparent in the album’s prominently utilized harmonica, relatively simple instrumentals and pared down run times. After the sprawling epics of their last three albums, The King is Dead could seem almost too easy ‘ a way for Meloy and Co. to simply push out a new record with little of the consideration that went into previous works, but as Meloy himself told WFUV radio, ‘I thought [recording] would be a lot shorter. This was simple. Hazards was very cerebral… academic. That felt very time-consuming, and this one was just as hard. It just goes to show you that no music is easy.’