The Decemberists 'Hazards of Love' album

The Decemberists’ album The Hazards of Love was released by EMI’s Capitol Records in March to rave reviews with NPR calling the album an “epic adventure” and SPIN writing that it “yields spectacular sparks,” adding that it contains “some of the snarliest, bluesiest, rockingest moments in The Decemberists’ catalog.” The raves continued when the band hit the road for their “A Short Fazed Hovel” tour with Pitchfork calling the live performance “a triumph,” The Wall Street Journal declaring it “a remarkable experience,” and New York Magazine naming it the “Indie Rock Show of the Year.”

On October 19, The Decemberists will unveil Here Come The Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a special project that takes their ambitious and acclaimed song cycle to new heights for it’s final American performance at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles. This unique live experience will feature The Decemberists in collaboration with four filmmakers—Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria—each of whom have created animation to accompany a section of the music. Presented in association with Flux, the event will also be a benefit for The GRAMMY Foundation®’s Grammy In The Schools® music education programs for high school students.

At Royce Hall, The Decemberists will perform the entire piece synchronized with the animation, as well as an additional second set of older and newer material. A limited presale will begin at 10:00am PT on Wednesday, September 16 at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. General tickets will go on sale on Friday, September 18. The band will also kick off the final leg of their “A Short Fazed Hovel” tour this week. See full dates below.

The Decemberists tour dates
Sept. 18 Orono, Maine University of Maine (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 19 New York, NY Terminal 5 (*special lottery show w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 20 Burlington, VTFlynn Theater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 21 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 23 Norfolk, VA The Norva (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 24 Charlottesville, VACharlottesville Pavilion (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 25 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 26 Athens, GA The Classic Center (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 27 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 29 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 30 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 2 Houston, TX House of Blues (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 3 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Music Festival
Oct. 4 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 6 Lexington, KYUniversity of Kentucky, Lexington (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 7 Columbia, MO Ninth St. Fall Fest (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 8 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 9 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 18 San Francisco, CATreasure Island Music Festival
Oct. 19 Los Angeles, CA UCLA Royce Hall

Nov. 18 London, UK Forum
Nov. 19 London, UK Coronet
Nov. 21 The Hague, NetherlandsCrossing Border Festival

more The Decemberists information
On March 24th, Capitol Records will release The Decemberists’ The Hazards Of Love, the follow-up to the group’s 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife, which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year. With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album has been pronounced by many, The Decemberists – who will be featured in a live session on NPR’s “World Café” today – have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. The 17-song suite, recorded with the band’s longtime producer, Tucker Martine, is rooted in ancient language and imagery, yet entirely modern and accessible.

The album began when Meloy – long fascinated by the British folk revival of the 1960s – found a copy of revered vocalist Anne Briggs’s 1966 EP, titled The Hazards of Love. Since there was actually no song with the album’s title, he set out to write one. Soon he was immersed in something much larger than just a new composition.

The Hazards Of Love tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake, who recounts with spine-tingling ease how he came “to be living so easy and free” in the aforementioned “The Rake’s Song.” Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden deliver the lead vocals for the female characters, while My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock and the Spinanes' Rebecca Gates appear in supporting roles. The range of sounds reflects the characters’ arcs, from the accordion’s singsong lilt in “Isn’t it a Lovely Night?” to the heavy metal thunder of “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing.”

“There’s an odd bond between the music of the British folk revival and classic metal,” says Meloy. “A natural connection between, like, Fairport Convention and Black Sabbath – of course, Sandy Denny from Fairport even sang with Led Zeppelin on ‘The Battle of Evermore.’ I think there’s a shared sense of narrative and ambience, of moving beyond the first person in your writing. And I thought it would be interesting to mess around with that.”

The Decemberists will tour this spring, playing The Hazards Of Love straight through for the show’s first half and older material for the remainder. Ambitious, yes – but this is a band that doesn’t shy away from major stage productions, having performed The Crane Wife with full orchestral accompaniment on several 2007 dates, including a stop at the historic Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

Do you also would like to share your opinion? If so, please register or login here.

Details

Popular Songs

New Songs

Tracklisting

The Decemberists - Hazards of Love