The Decemberists Announce First Formal Live Album

With more than 10 years of activity behind them (!), indie rockers, The Decemberists, have announced the impending release of their first formal live album: We Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 04.11 - 08.11), which is due out March 13th.

Live albums are no surprise these days. However, I'm surprised it has taken the Portland-based whiz-kids this long to formally release one. They have had a few digital live collections show up (Live at Bull Moose, Live from SoHo) via iTunes, but nothing as formal as a good 'ol fashion CD/vinyl release. Well, until now anyways.

While the Decemberists have maintained their own identity over the years, their albums have contained notable shifts in style. All these albums are clearly Decemberists records, but they're hardly repeats. The Decemberists --more specifically Colin Meloy's songwriting -- have an arch-shaped career thus far. However, this arch isn't based on the quality of the albums. Rather, it's based on the constructing of "story songs." Meloy has always leaned this direction for his songwriting. We see the band's early releases (5 Songs (2001), Castaways and Cutouts (2003), Her Majesty, the Decemberists (2004)) as a collection of pop-infused snapshots of stories with each story being self-contained in each song. With the band's 2005 release of Picaresque, those stories got a little more concrete. I ask the reader to not equate being more concrete with necessarily being better-- this coming from someone who thinks both Castaways and Her Majesty are superior to Picaresque in most every way.

The Tain (or Hazards of Love Jr. in this circumstance) showcased Meloy's ability to tell a longer story over various parts. 2006's The Crane Wife took this a little further still --focusing on an album of conceptual nature. The peak of this storytelling arch culminated with 2009's The Hazards of Love. Hazards found Meloy telling one connected story throughout the album's 17 tracks. The latest addition --The King is Dead -- spiked the arch with no over-arching story to speak of.

Why am I telling you all this? It illustrates that right now --early 2012 -- is perhaps the most appropriate time for the Decemberists to release their first compilation live album. We don't know how long their career will span, but this is among the first periods where a compilation live album is a good idea. The track list on it is good too (see bottom of page). Obviously, the album is heavy on The King is Dead. However, it also has a nice sampling of older, less-likely-to-hear performances ("Leslie Ann Levine," "Oceanside," "I Was Meant for the Stage," "Soldiering Life"). The only major release they ignored on the list was "16 Military Wives" -- which I am 110% fine with. Otherwise, the album touches on most stages of their main bunch of albums-- there isn't much b-side material on this album: a shame for hardcore fans, perfectly fine with the more casual ones.

The CD leads off with "The Infanta." This will make a fitting journey for me as I listen because "The Infanta" was the first Decemberist song I ever heard.

It certainly wasn't the last.

Track List
"The Infanta"
"Calamity Song"
"Rise to Me"
"The Soldiering Life"
"We Both Go Down Together"
"The Bagman's Gambit"
"Down By the Water"
"Leslie Ann Levine"
"The Rake's Song"
"The Crane Wife 1, 2, and 3"
"Oceanside"
"Billy Liar"
"Grace Cathedral Hill"
"All Arise!"
"Rox in the Box"
"June Hymn"
"Dracula's Daughter/O Valencia!"
"This Is Why We Fight"
"The Mariner's Revenge Song"
"I Was Meant for the Stage

Brian is an active musician and songwriter with the band Something With Trees and spends a lot of his time perusing around the music world in one form or another. He also contributes occasionally to Paper Trail Music ; an indie music blog out of Brooklyn.

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Decemberists Announce New Live Album