Hark! A long-time folk rock fan and weary minstrel to the genre, lend your ear now. Coming from the far land of Portland, Oregon, a new album hails.

With seven studio albums under their belt, The Decemberists break a four year hiatus with What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World on Capitol Records. With their newest effort, The Decemberists offer their most varied experience yet. Upbeat anthems and slow folk mastery are on display. In the past, The Decemberists, with their fully realized folk instrumentation, from harmonicas and steel guitars to banjos and fiddles, and their unique songwriting made a splash in the indie folk rock scene. Lead vocalist and songwriter, Colin Meloy, iconically captures a halfway imagined past of lonely sailors, forlorn lovers and 1920’s bankrobbers through imaginative, sophisticated diction. In this outing, a very clear theme of change is present. In both singles, “Make You Better” and “Lake Song,” Meloy considers the change time has on missed romantic relationships. The opener here, “The Singer Addresses His Audience,” is a direct piece about the intimate relationship between artist and consumer, how the growth of fame directly changes the artist and how, no matter the changes, the artist still has the consumer in mind. They end the song and begin the album with an amassing landscape of stabbing violins, a fey choir, and a building, rambling guitar. The Decemberists have never used this chaotic song structure before and it serves as a glimpse to future sound of the band.  Many other cuts deal with the changes throughout all stages of life. But, how much did The Decemberists change for What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World? I wouldn’t call it changing so much as adapting.

For this record, The Decemberists utilized their established tools while making the music more accessible for new listeners. The intricate anecdotes and vast array of sounds are still there, but this time, they are paired with simpler writing style and more common sounding arrangements. For example, the chorus-driven track “The Wrong Year” exhibits a very poppy drum beat and squealing guitar, but is then followed by “Carolina Low,” a vengeful, twangy song that seems to be about slaves escaping captivity. But overall the established historical writing style takes a backseat to the more straightforward and more applicable, yet equally story driven, lyrics. It’s only slightly disappointing, but I’m sure that most people don’t enjoy eleven minute epics about the life, love and death of colonial sailors as much as I do.

In the end, The Decemberists offer what they always have, if with a new layer of paint. Old fans aren’t sitting through the same fourteen songs but Colin Meloy and company still deliver real emotion and sound like home. In their most varied effort yet, this is a great time to jump in. See what you think and make a judgement to either dig deeper into past albums or let it sit on the shelf. Either way, it’s not a waste of your time. I give The Decemberists’ What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World a solid seven out of ten, but that’s just what I have to say. Have you listened to it yet? What are your thoughts? Let me know at [email protected].