The Decemberists Overview

Decemberists songwriter and frontman Colin Meloy first came across the story of The Crane Wife several years ago, in the children's section of a bookstore in Portland. A venerable Japanese folk tale that has been handed down in countless variations and... [more]

Decemberists songwriter and frontman Colin Meloy first came across the story of The Crane Wife several years ago, in the children's section of a bookstore in Portland. A venerable Japanese folk tale that has been handed down in countless variations and translations through the centuries (as venerable folk tales are wont to do), the deceptively simple story has stayed with Meloy ever since. 'œI thought that it would be a great thing to try to put it to some sort of song form, be it a single tune or something longer,' he recalls. 'œSo I struggled with that for years until finally I realized that it just needed more parts and set about building those.' He had plenty to occupy him in the meantime: the past three years have seen his band, The Decemberists rise to the first rank of the indie music world with a series of bold, beautiful albums, including 2005's Picaresque and Her Majesty, The Decemberists (2003). On these albums, Meloy's crafty compositions marry an infallible melodic knack with a venturesome lyrical palette equally suitable for painting fantastical songs full of sea captains, legionnaires, chimney sweeps and seekers of all kinds. Led by these songs, and by a group dynamic that embraces experimentation even as it celebrates classic pop and folk forms -- to say nothing of klezmer, Irish jig, sea chantey, and prog rock -- The Decemberists are firmly established as a completely original happening in the world of contemporary indie rock: sold out tours across the nation, widespread popular and critical acclaim, and an aesthetic all their own. [show less]