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Fans of Picaresque beware: The Decemberists are in full Tain mode for their latest release, “Hazards of Love”, their second on Capitol. It’s a classic Colin Meloy star-crossed lovers tale centered around a young man named William (whose forest queen mother is one of the principle antagonists) and a woman named Margaret, who is plagued by a shape-shifting beast.
Detractors will say that the story is convoluted and hard to follow (Meloy ‘acts’ in three separate roles throughout the story), and that may be true. But what really impressed me about this album is that each character has his or her own musical identity. That is to say, William’s melodies are unique to William, and the Rake’s melodies are unique to the Rake. Even though both characters were voiced by Meloy, I could immediately tell who was speaking without the benefit of the liner notes.
The album really kicks into high gear on the eighth track, entitled “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid”. In the context of the story, it’s basically William asking if he can go be with Margaret for the night, followed by a big “NO” from the forest queen mother. Musically, it starts off as a pretty familiar sounding Decemberists song (very reminiscent of The Island), but then it makes a sharp left turn with a blistery blues riff by lead guitarist Chris Funk. My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden provides the voice of the Queen, and she absolutely nails it. My past experiences hearing her sing have all been as a backup vocalist for Sufjan Stevens, and I had no idea what she could really do with her voice.
The final track, “Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)” is a hauntingly beautiful end to the album. I would say it’s the strongest track on the entire record, but context really makes some of the tracks stand out more than they normally would (I won’t spoil it, but just wait until you get to Hazards of Love 3).
This is definitely a challenging record, and those looking for an easy listen akin to Picaresque or Her Majesty will sorely disappointed. Sonically, this album is brilliant. It represents tremendous growth for an already extremely talented group of musicians. That being said, I think they’ve taken the long-form album as far as it should go. Now that it’s out of their system, I’m eager to hear where they will go next.
You can listen to the first single from Hazards of Love here:
The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song
Post by Jacob Magers | Team Marmoset
