There's a scene
in the bootleg cut of Cameron Crowe's film Almost
Famous where Patrick Fugit's rock journalist is talking to Billy Crudup's
budding rock star about their favorite music. They're riffing about the little
details in music that people remember, and Crudup mentions Marvin Gaye's "What'sHappening Brother" and a single "woo" at the end of the second
verse – a "woo" that completely hooks the listener.
"That's what
you remember. The silly things, the little things," he says. "There's
only one, and it makes the song."
For me, there's a
similar moment three minutes and thirty-nine seconds into "Lake Song"
from The Decemberists' latest, What A
Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, where singer Colin Meloy delivers
the lines "Set the ghost of your two footprints/That they might haunt me
when you're gone." On the word "gone" he adds an extra lilt, a
slightly more sing-songy enunciation that gives the word a quiet, but
devastating lift. It kills me every time I listen to it, and I've listened to
it a lot.
What A Terrible World… is a stunning tapestry of these kinds of moments, and
arrives halfway through the first month of 2015 as the year's first great
album. It may lack the cohesive structure that made The Crane Wife and The
Hazards of Love so interesting, but it's tough to argue when Meloy and
company are churning out songs as smart and goddamn pretty as they do here.
The Decemberists'
last album The King Is Dead came out
four years ago and brought with it the group's biggest commercial success at
the time. All of sudden radio stations that would've blanched at playing the
band's earlier work were playing songs like "Down By The Water" once
every couple hours. The album's success was mostly due to the band's ability to
marry its brilliant, erudite lyrics with a little less jagged Neil Young-esque
instrumentation.
It felt like
after all the new attention The Decemberists needed to step back a spend a
little time with themselves before venturing forth again and the time has
clearly been well spent. The sound more energized here than most brand new
bands.
What A Terrible World… continues to expand the band's sonic palette, whether it’s
the George Harrison style guitar work on "Philomena," Nick Drake-like
acoustics on "Lake Song" or "Till the Water Is All Long Gone,"
which sounds like they lifted wholesale the Spanish guitar picking from Van
Morrison's "Beside You."
As always with
this group, the storytelling and lyrics are really what make the album special.
The album kicks
off with the most self-aware song this side of a Taylor Swift hit, "The
Singer Addresses His Audience," which features Meloy wryly singing lines
like "We know, we know, we belong to ya/We know you grew your arms around
us/And the hopes we wouldn't change." Meloy leaves it to the listener to
decide if they want to read it as grateful, sarcastic or a mix of both.
On "Till the
Water Is All Long Gone" Meloy seems to be channeling lost civilizations
and centuries of political strife into a simple ballad about defending one's
daughter (it's also the second song to mention coming down from a mountain – a
reference to the band's return after several years of quiet? Discuss amongst
yourselves.)
The album wraps
up with the stellar one-two punch of "12-17-12" and "A Beginning
Song." The former title is in reference to the Sandy Hook school shooting
in Newtown, Connecticut, and tackles the aftermath of an event that reminded
the country again (as if there was any need for it) that even our children
aren't safe in school. "Oh my God, what a world you have made here,"
Meloy sings and you can hear his broken heart in the delivery.
"A Beginning
Song" ends the album on a more hopeful note by asking the listener what he
or she is waiting for, when the time is now to chase one's dreams or goals. It
ends with the band chanting the bright light "is all around me." It's
gorgeous, and an early contender for best album closer of the year.
If Crowe is right
in Almost Famous (and let's face it –
he is) then it really is the little things that make music special and The
Decemberists are experts at adding little touches for everyone. Like a novel in
short stories, they've created a masterclass in the craft with What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful
World. Act accordingly.
What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World is out on Capitol.
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