The Hazards Of Love * by Decemberists (The) (CD, Mar-2009, Capitol Records USA)

I need to preface this review with the fact that I’m relatively new to the indie scene and this only my second Decemberists album. The first was The Crane Wife and I’m still of the opinion that they’ll never top that album. Nothing’s changed there with their latest offering which doesn’t have the same “mainstream” immediate grab of catchiness. But give it a few listens and, wait, there it is, that sound you came to love so much on Crane. "A Bower Scene" and "The Wanting comes in Waves" are classic Decemberists.

I’ve read about this album being described as a concept album in the line of Pink Floyd’s The Wall which doesn’t mean much at all to me since I’ve never heard it in it’s entirety, but if they were trying to say that this album is an eclectic journey of sorts then I wholeheartedly agree. Also, you don’t need psychedelics to appreciate the deeper nuances of this music so there’s another key difference.

On the instrumental side of things the Decemberists go all out with an impressive tapestry of anachronistic instruments. I personally liked the harpsichord contributions the most, but if you ever find yourself with some time to kill it’d be a fun exercise to sit through and count how many different instruments are put to work in this project. It’s gotta be at least 20…

Recommendation: Do you like uplifting, thoughtful music? Are you open-minded? Did you love the Decemberists sound on The Crane Wife? Yes to any of these – buy it.

“These hazards of love…nevermore will trouble us”