Decemberists deliver career high
Published Oct. 3, 2006
Colin Meloy's best work with The Decemberists has always resided in crushing, heartbreaking ballads. Those ballads have always been album showstoppers (Picaresque's "The Engine Driver" and "We Both Go Down Together" and Castaways and Cutout's "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect") that have, at least for my taste, far overshadowed those albums' more upbeat or stagnant tracks.
The showstoppers on The Decemberists' major label debut, The Crane Wife, are aplenty, and they are the album's best and most pop tracks. On "O Valencia!" Meloy works his oft-used, non-consenting parents theme to rescue his own shattered heart by proclaiming, "And I swear to the stars/I'll burn this whole city down" as revenge for the death of his muse.
The melody on "Summersong," if not eerily familiar, sounds most traditionally Decemberists, with a tortured Meloy weaving the albums most vivid tale ("Lips parting like a flag all unfurled"). "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)," a rousing Civil War-tinged call-and-response between Meloy and part-time collaborator Laura Veirs, finally shows Meloy dealing with distance and loss optimistically.
No one has ever mistaken The Decemberists for being an uplifting band, but The Crane Wife is especially mired in sorrow, separation, and most often than not, death. But by espousing these emotions through character (as he has almost always done), Meloy saves the album from being nauseously maudlin.
The songs on the album that are bound to garner the most attention are the three-part "The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning" and "The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2." Both songs exceed 11 minutes and are the reason why The Crane Wife has been tagged as The Decemberists' shot at a "prog" album.
"The Island" opens with chugging power chords but quickly works its way into a signature acoustic guitar. But it's clear that something bigger is at work. The Decemberists aren't rookies at overtly long tracks, and they construct "The Island" like seasoned veterans. Swelling build-ups are tempered, sounds are introduced, then snatched back and ultimately brought back to power later in song. "The Island" never wears out its welcome. Because the song gets exceedingly better as it moves, culminating in a haze of weeping violins where Meloy laments his lost love.
"The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2" is the album's central story — Meloy's love in the form of a wounded crane. The song's sounds mirror the story. As he helps resurrect his love, the track moves at the album's fastest pace, with Meloy belting out atmospheric "la, la, las." As the song turns sadder, the band follows suit, ultimately concluding with album opener, "The Crane Wife, Pt. 3," where a resigned Meloy mourns the crane's death.
On The Crane Wife, The Decemberists do what they do best, better than they ever have, and do what they've never done almost nearly as well. The result is a virtually flawless body of work — an album of heartbreak set in various bygone times and whose ethos transcend centuries. It's a record that perfectly balances the critic's need for evolution and the fan's want for what they know and love. This is a band that has made its best album when both they and everyone else needed it most. And we're all the better for it.
Artist: The Decemberists
Album: The Crane Wife
Genre: Indie Rock
Record Label: Capitol
Release Date: Today
Most Listenworthy Track: 'Oh Valencia!'
Reviewer's Rating: 5 out of 5Ms