The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
- Written by Andrew Seaton
The Decemberists' The King is Dead marks a departure from recent form for the increasingly prolific Oregon quintet. Colin Meloy seems to announce this from the start with his opening line, ‘Here we come to a turning of the season’. Gone are the meta-narratives that drove 2009’s The Hazards of the Love and the album that started that particular penchant, 2006’s The Crane Wife. The concept of The King is Dead is that there is no concept. The band as such seem to be setting themselves free from having to correlate their work with what risked becoming overbearing storylines. Indeed, Meloy has said in recent interviews that he has wanted to free his mind from ‘more academic music interests’ and to play music that inspired him in his youth. What we have as a result is a tribute to Americana.
Making The King is Dead an Americana record brings it close to others who willingly embrace that particular genre and Meloy has been successful in choosing his inspiration. The record is permeated by early R.E.M; indeed Peter Buck even plays on three tracks. ‘Calamity Song’ goes back to the mid-1980s with its picked guitar loops and its Michael Stipe-esque chorus. In a similar way, comparisons could be made with early Wilco, especially A.M. Employing Gillian Welch makes ‘Rise To Me’ touching as they both harmonise ‘they rise to you, you blow them down, let me see you stand your ground’.
The Decemberists effortlessly do all that is asked of them in producing a true Americana sound, a definite testament to their musical talent. In its recording, the album is clean and flawless. ‘Rox in the Box’ sees the accordion that the band has stuck with throughout their career deployed nicely and an accompanying violin adds the country vibe. With Meloy singing, ‘And it’s one, two, three, on the wrong side of the lee’, ‘Rox in the Box’ sounds like it is made to be played in a barn. Well the band in fact did just that; they recorded the whole album in an Oregon barn and they seem to be consciously attempting to match this rustic environment. ‘Down By The Water’ is loud and features a piercing but catchy harmonica; touches like this help to achieve the band’s goal of producing a pure Americana record.
Although this explicit objective is achieved one has to ask if by jettisoning ‘more academic music interests’ Meloy has sacrificed something essential to the band; its intelligent and playful lyrics. You can’t expect the Decemberists to dish out songs about whales or Victorian prostitutes and lace them with prose that occasionally needs a dictionary to make it comprehendible like they did ten years ago. That said, the band have made a career out of doing just that, and doing it well; Meloy is widely, and justly, credited for his lyrical ability. The King is Dead while brilliantly becoming an Americana record features few typical Decemberist flourishes and lacks the charm that it could have perhaps had.
The King is Dead is a fantastic Americana record that deploys the talents of the band in a new direction, one free from the meta-narratives that they obviously started to perceive as reductive. This makes for enjoyable listening. However, the record could have been improved if The Decemberists had embraced moderation; by setting themselves free they seem to have neglected applying touches, such as short and quirky narratives, that really defined past efforts like Picaresque.