The Decemberists

New Music Tuesday: Decemberists, The King Is Dead

With their sixth album, The King Is Dead,The Decemberists put forth a collection of compact, pared-down country-based songs. More concise and accessible than their previous intellectual storytelling, the ten-track effort is a snapshot of Americana; unadorned and reminiscent of 1970’s singer-songwriter pairings. The quintet is joined by singer Gillian Welch on seven of the tracks and REM’s Peter Buck on another. De facto leader Colin Meloy explains, “For all my talk about how complex [previous] records were, this one may have been harder to do,” he says. “It’s a real challenge to make simple music.” Only one of the songs clocks in over five minutes in length and the entire album is a spare 40 minutes. “Sometimes I kind of miss the epic-ness of the other albums, but it’s nice to get all of the information across in three minutes. It’s like going from reading a novel to reading a bunch of short stories,” says Meloy. The King Is Dead was recorded in a barn at the remote Pendarvis Farm, a 80-acre estate outside of Portland, Oregon. The pastoral imagery was influential; plants, and water and are featured throughout the lyrics. “The syntax of The Decemberists is definitely still there,” says Meloy. “I didn’t want it to be too much of a departure.” Buy it here -Court