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The Decemberists - “June Hymn”
The Decemberists have never released a bad album - and they have released a lot of albums. From the 2002 debut Castaways and Cutouts we received gems like “July, July,” and “Clementine”; off of Her Majesty the Decemberists a year later came “Los Angeles I’m Yours” and “Red Right Ankle”; from 2005’s Picaresque “We Both Go Down Together” and “Sixteen Military Wives”; from 2006’s The Crane Wife the three “Crane Wife” songs as well as “O Valencia!” and “Summersong”; from 2009’s Hazards of Love a whole slew of favorites, including “The Prettiest Thistles Will Wrestle the Thistles Undone,” “Wager All” and “Revenge!” (“Hazards” 1,2, and 3, respectively), as well as “The Wanting Comes in Waves”.
In January of 2011, a further lack of disappointment came from the Decemberists - an album called The King is Dead, which I wrote about here. It’s as if The Decemberists are on a quest to get everyone to like them, and the quest seems to be working. Up until this year, The Decemberists used to favor the complex - exquisitely long concept albums with historic, mythical, literary, or otherwise completely bizarre themes. Picaresque was based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, while The Hazards of Love is a recap of a maiden’s romance with the forest. Basically, up until The King is Dead, The Decemberists was music for people who like to read a lot, and who would not feel entirely out of place with either harpsichords or Shakespearian innuendos.
And that’s exactly what’s going to make the Decemberists set at Bonnaroo so great. The band has got simple new songs to flaunt - songs like “January Hymn,” “June Hymn,” and “This Is Why We Fight” off of The King is Dead, songs that will surely sound crisp and clean in the southern sun. But the older, bigger crowd pleasers like “Los Angeles I’m Yours” and “O Valencia!” will ultimately be what makes the throngs come out. And if Colin Meloy decides to do a stripped down, soulful, acoustic version of “Red Right Ankle” - one of my favourite love songs of all time - well I’ll probably just break down and cry.
Tears of joy, for the record.
(9 Days!)
-L
