The Decemberists are one of those bands that I’ve always been aware of, and liked, without ever being particularly blown away by. However, their seventh album is one of the first great albums of 2015, a long player replete with warmly intricate folk rock majesty; it’s one of those albums that when it’s finished not only do you want to go back and listen to it all over again, but it also makes you want to go and check out their back catalogue.
All though derided in certain corners as a ‘hipster band’, what it comes down to on this record is simply the quality songs. Whilst the album starts off in pretty good fashion with ‘The Singer Addresses His Audience’ it’s the central three absolutely brilliant tracks on the album that are worth the price of admission alone – ‘Cavalry Captain’, ‘Philomena’ and ‘Lake Song’.
In a funny way, though it sounds nothing like it, it’s rather like the warm, fuzzy feeling you got listening to Vampire Weekend, that feeling you get when you hear a great collection of songs. Sure ‘What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World’ may soundtrack campus dorms, but the last time I checked, that wasn’t a criminal offence. It’s also worth noting, that it was on their seventh album, Out Of Time, that REM truly went massive, just saying.
What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World is released by Rough Trade on 19th January 2015.
[Rating:4]
