The Decemberists- The King Is Dead

Purchased at Schoolkids Records in Raleigh, NC on 6/30/11.

After the hard-rock style of their 2009 album “The Hazards of Love” (See review below), Portland band The Decemberists return to what they do best for their sixth album- folk music. “The King Is Dead” has the familiar stomping folk anthems and dark ballads that put the band on the map in the first place without sounding like a back-to-basics record. It lacks the British-steam punk-storytelling vibe of their first records, taking instead a more subdued, classic Americana feel, with lots of Neil Young-y harmonica and bluegrass harmonies, tinged with violin and tasteful pedal steel, masterfully played by multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk.

Despite being a folk album, “The King Is Dead” has its rocking moments, particularly on the lead single “Down by the Water” and on the dark “Calamity Song”, which both have echoes of “Murmur”-era R.E.M. songs like “The One I Love” and “Catapult” respectively. Decemberists front man Colin Meloy has stated in many interviews that R.E.M. was a major influence in the album’s creation. In addition, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck plays on both “Down by the Water” and “Calamity Song,” lending the record his trademark jangly guitar chord arpeggios that became synonymous with R.E.M.’s early sound. Buck also plays mandolin on the record’s stomping opener, “Don’t Cary It All”, a song of working together with neighbors on a farm during the harvest.

Teamwork is all fine and good, but death and destruction are the Decemberists’ specialty. The lyrics of “Calamity Song” discuss the “at least it isn’t me” attitude many have towards natural disasters, such as the line “California succumbed to the fault line, we heaved relief as scores of innocents died”. The song also deals with (presumably airline) post 9-11 travel anxiety; “On the road, it’s advised that you follow your own bag in the year of the chewable Ambien tab”. “Rox in the Box” is classic Decemberists fare, a sea-shanty about wasting away working down a mine (“You won’t make a dime on his Gray Mountain Mine- of dirt you’re made and to dirt you will return”), with one of the Decemberists’ best accordion solos, expertly played by keyboardist Jenny Conlee, accompanied by Chris Funk on bouzouki. The two lead singles, “Down By The Water” and “This Is Why We Fight” are heavy-handed folk-rock gems.

“The King Is Dead” features some of the finest Decemberists ballads ever written. “June Hymn” is a mournful ballad from the perspective of a man on his deathbed remembering the summer mornings on “Springville Hill” with his love; “And once upon it, the yellow bonnets garland all the lawn- and you were waking, and day was breaking, a panoply of song”. Glorious backing vocals by guest vocalists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings make the song’s chorus incredibly poignant. The contemplative “January Hymn” tells of a man and his children surviving yet another winter. The album’s final track, “Dear Avery”, is a plea of a parent begging his headstrong teenage son Avery to come home, being physically unable to move him out of harm’s way like when he was a boy; “But you were my Avery, and when you needed saving, I could just grab you by the nape of your neck.” Chris Funk’s slide guitar never sounded better.
“The King Is Dead” is a solid Americana album from folk-rock godfathers The Decemberists doing what they do best- spinning yarns of love, work, and death, wrapped in lush instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics, in a manner that is 100% their own.