Deep in the belly of a whale a wretched mariner takes revenge upon the consumptive pirate that turned his family to ruin, a college lad makes a gaffe on the sporting fields of well cut grass and restrained English, and a spectral barrow boy is doomed to sell his coal and marigolds in the dead of night for all eternity. What could possibly connect these darkened Dickensonian stories?

Picaresque is The Decemberists forthcoming LP and here is the first review of it out there [it turns out this was up two days before leakedalbums.com]. This folows close on the heels of their first two LPs, the single year releases of Castaways and Cutouts and Her Majesty The Decemberists, which both recieved critical acclaim. After these two very similar albums the Decemberists wandered a little further afield with their single track EP The Tain, which combined front man Colin Meloy’s vocal storytelling with an epic, expansive musical background. The Tain has also ranked highly with critics and listeners alike. This means that the poor old Decemberists are loaded with expectations. So somewhere between their continental ramblings of Europe and North America, crashing around in true vagabond style they willed into existence Picaresque. It is hard to say whether Picaresque is better or worse than any of their previous albums, because none of their albums seem better or worse than any other. They seem to fit together into a seemless musical wandering, building as it goes with each jewel they put out.

Chris Dahlen from Pitchfork Media claimed in his review of Her Majesty The Decemberists, “The Decemberists may never escape the label ‘quirky,’ which is a crime.” I think that ship has sailed. The Decemberists seem to have taken “quirky” and made it the standard. They are well beyond merely asking if they can join the party, they are staking out their own musical space. If The Tain was one work of epic scale with a large story and wandering yet grand music, then Picaresque is a closer, intimate collection of folk tales. They still retain the sound from their earlier works, but they have taken on even more patina in their sound. The lyrics have the feel of a well worn antique passed down through a winding course only to be found, surprisingly, in your attic. The music is rich and rhythmic, with outstanding preformances by all members of the band, especially Rachel Blumberg on drums. The music swithces between sonorous croonings by Meloy with very little instrumentation and blasting upbeat choruses filled with sound. Many tracks literally explode with strings and horns in addition to the booming percussion by Blumberg (who may be my favortie female drummer), Jenny Conlee’s invigorating keyboard, and the dual string work from Chris Funk on steel guitar and banjo (and dulcimer?) and Nate Query and his upright bass. There are some very welcome sections of female vocals that have appeared in their previous work, but shine in Picaresque. Simply, this album is built to please, filling the minds eye with swirling images of love, adventure, and the darkness of human struggle, while filling the ears with urgent and swirling sounds.

The opening track “Infanta” holds nothing back, slowly welling up with strange animal calls and drum rolls right into a full out sprint of Meloy lyrics on top of bounding precussion and soaring keyboard work. This blasts open the album and really showcases the skill and craft apparent throughout the album. After this opening salvo the album cools off. “Eli, The Barrowboy” highlights the bittersweet side of the album, with the more traditional Meloy vocals over beautiful guitar work. However, the chorus gives a hint of female vocals (probably Conlee?) backing up Meloy, which is unexpected and wonderful. Then the album takes a quick jaunt with “The Sporting Life,” which must be a less serious counterpoint to Her Majesty’s flagship song “The Soldiering Life.” It takes a page from “I Was Meant For Stage,” with parental disappointment, but is decidedly more jaunty. The Decemberists also break into a bit of new ground “Sixteen Military Wives,” which as far as I can tell is their first politically charged song. Usually I cast a cold eye on such songs, which often tend to self righteousness and pretention and a forced approach to the songwriting. However, as a skeptic I was won over, because The Decemberists pull this one off well.

Now anyone that knows and loves The Decemberists must know that there is one thing that I have yet to mention. There is, dear fans, a pirate song. Perhaps one of the best songs in their repretior. I guess if one were to name a flagship song on the album. This would have to be Picaresque’s pirate corsair command ship. Not only does Meloy absolutely earn his degree in creative writing (quite literally… he has one) but the rest of the band holds nothing back. Female vocals shine like never before, in all their spectral and macabre glory. Conlee’s accordion perfects this seaside chanty of revenge. Funk’s strummings keep pace with the precussion creating a consistent momentum. Beautiful little flourishes abound. Minstrels everywhere bow in homage to this tune. The whole album works just like their others. I am not sure that I can officially pronounce this but I get the feeling this is their best work. There is a very hard to describe quality that the Decemberists have and it is much more pervasive on this album. The whole thing hangs together better than their other albums, and that is a feat. I, as always, stand in amaze at the work these fine folks do. Tip of the hat to all of you.

-Andy