REVIEW: The Decemberists ‘What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World’

 

What_A_Terrible_World,_What_A_Beautiful_WorldOn their last album, 2011’s The King is Dead, Portland’s hometown heroes The Decemberists threw fans not one but two curveballs. First, the album was for all intents and purposes, a country album, and second, after its surprise success the band announced during the supporting “Popes of Pendarvia” tour that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. After two excruciatingly long years of fans battling over the merits of The King is Dead, frontman Colin Meloy finally announced during a 2013 solo tour that the band would begin working on new material in 2014. A lead single “Make You Better” was released in November 2014 ahead of the arrival of the bands 7th LP What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World in January 2015.

At 14 tracks deep and with lush cover art by Meloy’s wife Carson Ellis the album at first appears to flirt with excess, but the tracks are for the most part focused and polished, with little of the hyper-literate lyrics and epic storytelling that made the band famous. Meloy gets meta on the album opener “The Singer Addresses His Audience”, penning lyrics addressing the backlash that came from some fans after The King is Dead debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 and vaulted the band into commercialized, “sell-out” territory. “We know, we know, we belong to ya”, Meloy sings, “We know you built your life around us.” It sounds harsh on paper but its mostly fun and games on the track and feels like a necessary clearing of the air that gives Meloy a bit of space to do what he does best: write, strum and sing.

While “Make You Better” certainly hits all the right buttons, the front end of What a Terrible World is conspicuously dull. “Cavalry Captain” has plenty of trumpets and bombast but feels grating and “The Wrong Year” feels like cookie-cutter indie folk. The dark and pensive “Till the Water Is All Long Gone” and “Carolina Low” are both pretty but might have made more sense as closing tracks. Meloy finally shakes off the dust on “Better Not Wake the Baby” and the incredibly fun “Anti-Summersong” and a number of other late numbers are well worth the wait.

With a handful of stellar tracks, some good but not great songs, and a few duds, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is definitely a mixed-bag, but that shouldn’t deter fans and newbies alike from diving in.

Author: Gabe Vigh

Gabe is a Cambridge, MA based writer, photographer and artist. He is a big fan of recycling, Bob's Burgers, and a bit of a weather buff.