IN REVIEW: The Decemberists - "What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World"

I was reading through the comment section for an article on one of the sites I frequent earlier this week which, for me, seemed to encapsulate the average hipster's view of The Decemberists. The group's seventh record wasn't the subject of the article, but through the course of the comments and responses it was mentioned how strong the year was starting off musically, with Sleater-Kinney's latest top of mind. In an act of snarky pseudo-comedy, the person muttered something along the lines of "even The Decemberists managed to put out a good album".

It's a common belief among many so-called Decemberists fans that their previous record, the simplistic and brilliant The King is Dead, was a lesser piece of art due to the stripping away of overbearing pretension and theatrics. Its acoustic leanings and focus on songs rather than stories rubbed some the wrong way, as though they were owed a lifetime of eclectic theatre, murder ballads and witty wordplay.

For what it's worth, Colin Meloy addresses some of these entitlement issues fairly openly during opening track The Singer Addresses His Audience; "We know we belong to ya", he says, before admitting "we had to change some". It keeps its tongue planted firmly in cheek, perhaps as a suggestion for all the butthurt hipsters not to take this all so seriously; and seriously, I can't help but smirk at a line like "when your bridal processional is a televised confessional for the benefits of Axe shampoo", so as to help illustrate that writing more accessible songs might not be quite the heinous act of betrayal some see it as; plenty of their contemporaries have jumped at the chance at TV money.

Sorry to those folks and their feelings, but The Decemberists' seventh album has fourteen songs in lieu of three acts; in terms of where they're at from a creative angle, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World indeed picks up where The King is Dead left off. Harmonies are abundant, choruses rich with melody, the songs structured in ways that make perfect sense for their intended purpose. If there's any compromise to be made to critics of the stripped down style of The King is Dead, it's in the music itself; throughout there's a breadth of instrumentation at play, and this is a much fuller sounding, more vibrant record than The King is Dead, which let its atmosphere carry a sizable portion of the load. This is a more electric record, and also one with more sonic variety; one listen to the wounded heart and muscular soul of lead single Make You Better, the horned-up folk/soul shimmer of Cavalry Captain or The Band-recalling Mistral makes this much clear.

Where What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World truly excels is in its emotional gravitas. We've already heard two beautiful and heartbreaking examples leading up to the album's release in Lake Song and album closer A Beginning Song; the former maintains its haunting shuffle throughout while the latter builds to a life-affirming crescendo (and establishes itself as early front runner for my favourite song on the record). Elsewhere, there's a healthy serving of personal, heartfelt tunes that stir up all sorts of feelings; Till the Water Is All Long Gone and Carolina Low pained and mournful, Philomena and The Wrong Year soaring and steadfast.

No song on the album carries as much weight as 12/17/12, the one which gives the album its title; inspired by the presidential address that followed the tragic Newtown school shooting, Meloy juxtaposes the madness and grief of the horrific event with the joy and appreciation of parenthood. "Here with my heart so whole while others may be grieving", he sings, recognizing the need to address the ones we love while given the chance before approaching the next verse from the vantage point of a victim's parent ("If you only knew how I long for you / How I waste my days wishing you would come around").

My only nagging gripe with the album lies in its minor details; the sequencing is a bit puzzling, cramming the three shortest songs into one stretch toward the end of the album lessens their impact, making them almost feel like throwaways. Were that the case, any or all of them could have probably been left off in favour of a more even record; none of them are bad songs, they just don't add anything substantial in the suggested context.

Overall, The Decemberists haven't exactly broken new ground here, but they haven't committed any cardinal sins either. They've once again focused on songs and crafted a record that mostly succeeds in that regard; that might not be good enough for those pining for another grand production, but it's good enough for the band so it's good enough for me.

January 20, 2015 • Capitol

Highlights Make You Better • The Wrong Year • A Beginning Song