Over eight albums, the Decemberists have built a career on making music that lets the listener know that the band not only plays acoustic instruments, but that they also read a lot of old books. The band has drawn inspiration from history, folklore, and other old-timey sources to spin epic tales full of beautiful melodies and poetic lyrics. However, it seems the Decmeberists have decided to upset the applecart a bit with their newest album I'll Be Your Girl.
Front-man and songwriter Colin Meloy branched out from large narratives to standalone songs that act as a collection of standalone vignettes. What follows on I'll Be Your Girl is 40 minutes of mismatched song ideas. The first single, "Severed," is the band's best impression of a new wave band. The song itself is captivating, but it is an example of what Meloy and company are looking for something to do something new.
The first half of the album is pretty solid. The opening track "For Once In My Life" eases the listener into the record and "Cutting Stone" feels like a classic Decemberists tune. There really isn't a song that feels out of place on side A. "Severed" does fall in this half of the album, but the way in which the tracks leading up to it are placed makes the progression feel natural. The track piques the listener's interest instead turning the listener off.
As it is reported, this new album is more of a protest against the current political climate of the US. Liner notes on the album thank Robert Mueller for his investigation, and vinyl copies have "Impeach The President" and "Bring On The Matriarchy" etched on them. These ideas of political unrest/protest fits with the sentiments found in "Severed." Especially with the chorus where Meloy sings, "But don't you get clever / Don't you get clever."
However, once the album flips to Side B, it starts to lose its focus and feels scattered. "Your Ghost" can be described as goth country. The track is full of twangy guitars, galloping rhythms, and distorted harpsichord. The following track, "Everything Is Awful," is almost a nursery rhyme that must have been written for the sake of novelty. The verses on "Everything Is Awful" only serve as filler until it gets back to the chorus. The second half of the album almost sounds like the band thought Side A was strong enough that no one would notice how eclectic Side B is. The Decemberists do go back to their roots with "Rusakla, Rusakla / Wild Rushes" which is a two-movement song that is about mermaids and the lore around them.
Most of the songs on the album are decent even though they don't always relate to each other. However, "We All Die Young" is one song that should have been left off the album. It sounds like the band's attempted to write an early 2000s alt-rock radio hit. Nothing about "We All Die Young" makes it sound like it was written for Tthe Decemberists to play.
Overall, I'll Be Your Girl is a decent album. The only downside to the record is that the band tried to be too different. It's never bad for a band to change up their sound. In fact, it is healthy for a band to try new ideas. However, the band tried to do it all at once instead of playing with a new idea. If they played with the sound on "Severed" more, they could have had more focused-sounding record.
In the pantheon of the Decemberists' catalog, I'll Be Your Girl falls in the lower half. The band does not have a bad album so it isn't the end of the world for it to be there. If you are a fan of the band, listen to it once and call it good. If you are looking to get into The Decemberists, stay away from this album until you have heard their classics, The Crane Wife and Picaresque.
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