Decembrists/Desameness: The Hazards of Love Review

Soooo..... What do you do about Colin Meloy and his “band” The Decembrists? It is really 95% him on each CD but he surrounds himself with a revolving cast of musicians that at nuance and texture to whatever is currently the object of his whimsy.
And with Meloy it is whimsy. This is a guy who put out some good music but suddenly came into his own with the brilliant and sickeningly pretentious CD Picaresque in 2005. He had other CD’s but this one brought together all of his literary and linguistic.... brilliance He is brilliant. Seriously. He followed it up with The Crane Wife in 2006. Both CD’s were just brilliant with there or four perfect little songs on each and even the weak songs were good. The guy knows his way around a hook and knows his way around a live show and he toured behind both and put on some awesome live shows and built an excellent fan base.

Now the new Decembrists CD is out. It is “The Hazards of Love” and although it broke early on the net he used a one night live performance to debut it at SXSW this year to rave reviews.It has been out for a few weeks. I like it but there is something that is starting to wear on me regarding his style. He is...dare I say it...”precious”. Here is how he starts:

“My true love went riding out
In white and green and gray
Past the pale of Offa’s Wall
Where she was wont to stray “

Really? What am I supposed to do with that? It is pretty but it is clear that if you gave this guy a few lessons in Iambic Pentameter (I now he knows more about it then me already) he would absolutely think he was Shakespeare. He wants to be Shakespeare. This is a good solid CD. It has all the lyric and melodic quality that you expect but for me it is just getting old at this point.

“Fifteen lithesome maidens lay
Along in their bower
Mistle thrush, mistle thrush
Lay me down in the underbrush
My naked feet grow weary with the dusk”

The mistle thrush? And where does he keep finding these droves of women? Sixteen Military wives on another CD and 15 maidens on this one. Still, it is a good CD. Hook laden. The title cut is pretty and works but the CD is summarized by the Austinist in it’s on line “New Release Tuesday”.

“The story finds the heroine (Margaret) and a shape-shifting love interest (William) and an evil queen. "The Rake's Song" introduces us to the disturbing narrator (all male parts played by Colin Meloy) who became a widower then murdered his offspring. He abducts a pregnant Margaret, swoops her away, and soon enough revenge takes its form in the shape of fallen children. There's rescue wrapped in a tragic wave of sea, questions about ghosts and non-ghosts, curses, hopes and in the end, we're not sure if there's ever freedom from the hazards of love.”

Meloy tells great stories and adding Robin Hitchcock’s guitars and Shara Worden’s vocals for the female lead it is worth a listen but not really worth a buy. Buy the old CD’s and if it is not enough of his style for you then go with this one too. Better to catch the live show. Our boy has a flair for the dramatic.