19 minutes... I will listen soon but I am hopeful

This feels forced and tiresome and that sound around the 9:50 mark is by definition a fart. Then it turns into Breaking The Law all of a sudden. Putting that in context with the first single, this comes off as very pastiche.

not even coming out in december smh

the Decemberists as a whole are a pastiche band

therefore I enjoyed this

long ahh song

It's too long.
:p

Opener, Burial Ground is also available

I am hopeful
Should I be hopeful?
And the light, bright light
It's all around me

I for one am excited. Going to wait for the full album though before hearing the singles.

Nah you owe it to yourself to hear this one now. Cuz damn.

Burial Ground is excellent, but the 20 minute track is gonna take some time to grow. Felt unnecessarily bloated on first spin.

I love this band but this track is 10 min too long.

I don't disagree that the song is probably too long, but it's kinda nice to hear them really stretch their legs and go for it again lol

Redacted since I elaborated below:

Part I: 00:00 - 09:30
CUT: 9:30 - 16:00
Part II: 16:00 - 19:30

They could have had a single song that was 13 min long and much stronger or broke it up into these 2 sections and had a 9 minute song with a 3 and half minute second part. I love the song but hate that they left 6 and half minutes of nothing in the center of it..

Maybe itd be a good idea to update band bios when there is news. This bands bio hasnt been updated simce 2014.

It's a very lush-sounding song and there are a lot of classic Decemberists elements that have been missing the past couple of albums. I agree that the middle section doesn't do it any favors as drone isn't really their style. They attempted some brief drone stuff on Hazards of Love, but not a 7-minute one like on "Joan..."

Still, it was refreshing to hear something from them that harkened back to why I fell in love with them in the first place.

it's 2024, the world has evolved beyond the need for quirky indie bands

Is this quirky though? They sound comparably serious here. But maybe that was your point.

What the sacred egg said.

Wonderful news, and though I'm only five minutes into the track it is quite good, definitely reminiscent of their trademark sound. Color me optimistic and excited.