The Decemberists’ fifth studio album does anything but induce the blustery state their name suggests. Since 2001, when the band released their first EP, The Decemberists have slowly but steadily accrued popularity. However, as is true with most bands with indie origins, it has remained a predominately cult following. Yet with the release of The Hazards of Love and a recent switch to Capitol Records, The Decemberists stand a very good chance of popularity year-round.
Colin Meloy, The Decemberists’ frontman, is the first to admit the story-telling power of songs lured him into the music industry. Lyrically, The Decemberists reside in a class all their own, both in and out of the indie scene, and The Hazards of Love is no exception. Previously, The Decemberists relied on whimsical characters to ensure the interest of their stories. However, choosing love as the album’s subject and still maintaining uniqueness solidifies their true talent.
Four song titles on the album begin with “The Hazards of Love” followed by some identifying quip. As is typical with The Decemberists’ earlier work, “The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)” is heavily infused with animal imagery. The singer’s love stumbles upon a wounded fawn, which metamorphoses into a beast.
The song then seamlessly transitions into “A Bower Scene.” The aforementioned protagonist then becomes a more archetypal Decemberists’ character. The “inconsolable daughter” is now pregnant. The following song, “Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga),” introduces Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond as the voice of the protagonist, Margaret. The song bears a slight resemblance to the kick drum representative of The White Stripes and, her voice, while not exceptional, offers the perfect amount of innocence and pained desperation necessitated by Margaret’s situation.
Where Stark falls short, Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond succeeds. Worden is introduced following an interlude that leads to a much darker portion of the album. “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid” is where the songstress truly shines. The song acts as a he-said-she-said between Meloy and Worden. There could be no better fit than Worden’s voice for the evil infused Queen. Alright, Kristin Gundred of Grand Ole Party could give her a run for her money, but Worden is still undeniably outstanding.
While The Hazards of Love is an incredible literary work, it does possess one problem. The album relies very heavily on telling a provoking story. Thus, when the tracks stand alone, it feels as if there is something missing, and logically so. By itself, each track does not do the work as a whole justice. Not listening to the album in its entirety is comparable to reading a chapter, at random, from The Great Gatsby. And although marketability is not their foremost goal, this style of album is truly problematic. Rather than a music video, The Hazards of Love requires a film.
Hopefully, screenplay writer is on Meloy’s resume, for The Hazards of Love would be a movie worth seeing. It has all the makings of an engrossing medieval romance, minus the Middle English, of course. The Hazards of Love is anything but a hazardous listen.
4 1/2 stars out of 5.