Review Summary: ...with our arms unbound.
Allow me to re-introduce you! A simple, towering forest has nudged aside 2009's twisted branches with unsurprising ease, and the result? The intriguing suggestion that
The Hazards of Love's overbearing pretense was a mere facade, and what's more, an event unlikely to recur in any form. From the off, 'Don't Carry It All' returns to the tender, familiar tones of the Decemberists' past, Colin Meloy's calm and knowing drawl clearing the way for poetic yarns of love and desire. All things earthy return to the fore of the band's songwriting. There are (probably) no baby-murderers hidden in these stanzas, however peculiar they remain.
The first sound a harmonica, the opener's stomping rhythm forges a beautifully straightforward preface to an album whose clear intention is that critics will proclaim: "Long live the Kings!" But the statements of intent are easily and quickly forgotten in subtle and infectious refrains, and rest assured that though
The King Is Dead's premise is a product of the band's self-awareness, little else here is anything the wrong side of completely natural; I'll give you the outro to 'This Is Why We Fight' and the country tinge of 'All Arise!' but these are simply quirks in the grand scheme of an album so clearly and deliberately not grand.
But if this portrays
The King Is Dead as a cute record and nothing more, it ought not to: restrained, certainly; safe, arguably; but in few ways disappointing. Something endearing rings about this return to roots, not least in its ability to recapture that 2005/6 magic so delicately, but the songs are fantastic also. 'January Hymn' is poignant and resigned and ranks high among tracks like 'Angels And Angles.' Tempos and moods sway, from the adamant and rocky 'Down By The Water' right through to the wistful 'Dear Avery' -
The King Is Dead houses some of the band's best work, but best of all, it is the return of a band which works. The wanting may indeed come in waves, but this low tide is far more liberating.
