It is I, Tubs, appearing on your computer screens to talk about SCIENCE. No, wait... MUSIC.
I bought the new Decemberists' album Hazards of Love a while back and have been meaning to write about it ever since, but it's been sunny and I don't get paid to write this crap. However, now I venture...
Hazards of Love is a concept album inspired by an EP of the same name by an old folk singer called Anne Briggs, who Colin Meloy has mentioned before. She is proper, original folk; the kind of stuff your parents probably listened to when they were getting stoned around a fire. I imagine that's what all of your parents did, right? In any case, she's just one of those obvious influences if only because Meloy has regularly mentioned her. That's all you would need to know about that if necessity were a feature at all.
Just in case you're not clued in to The Decemberists, they can be simplified down to folk-rock that dips into 'progressive' now and then. Colin Meloy has a style that has been referred to as pretentious, but fuck that; he just tells good folk tales using wonderful wording. Also they have good timbre. Delicious. More accordions in music please!
Anyhoo, this is their fifth album but is different to their previous work and is my favourite as it is consistently great. It is also super-epic. It is a sort of rock-opera revolving around some chick named Margaret, but the narrative is vague enough to not get in the way of the music as it is. Meloy's wonderfully lyrical way with words isn't lost here despite my unusual disinterest in the content, and definitely gains new ground with Becky Stark as guest vocalist. It just sounds great. There's a brilliant use of dynamics, ranging from sweet and sensitive guitar to massive rock lurches that are almost obnoxious, and I feel I should note that I'm getting a big Pink Floyd vibe. That's not just because of the big kids chorus number near the end of the tale which, by the by, happens to be my favourite chapter of the album; in many ways it's incredibly eerie, but is somehow lovely as well. (Reminds me of Zelda: Ocarina of Time a bit for some reason...) It just feels ridiculously clever.
Hazards of Love is probably my favourite album of the year so far, because it is immediately heart-crushingly luxurious and dramatic. It's a wonderful piece of work and I urge you to purchase it post-haste! And then listen to it all in one go, since there is no divide between each 'single' - it must be appreciated wholly, like a good film. Don't spotify it because the adverts will ruin it and that will make me sad.
I'm going to go and drink lots of water for my hangover now. Good day to you!
-Tubs
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