The Decembrists Set to Release Hazards of Love, A Concept Album About A Shape-Shifting Animal – ’Nuff Said

Colin Meloy and his INCREDIBLE band The Decemberists are back. After some odd missteps last year, like that singles collection (TMT News) and that Colin Meloy live album (TMT Review), the band is back with an honest to goodness follow-up to that wonderful creature of an album known as The Crane Wife (TMT Review). Coming off the high seas, The Decemberists will be releasing Hazards of Love March 24 on Capitol Records (home of that hotty that kissed a girl “and she liked it”).

Now for those of you familiar with The Decemberists, you should know to expect anything but “normal” from this crew -- and for those of you not familiar with The Decemberists? You’re dead to me. Living up to expectations, Hazards of Love will tout 17 new songs that apparently need to be listened to as a whole to get the picture *cough, concept album alert, cough, cough*. As mentioned in the headline, Hazards of Love features a tale of “a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake, who recounts with spine-tingling ease how he came to be living so easy and free.” Awesome!

The album’s first single “The Rake Song” is available on their official site, but it will require some signing up to hear the tune. The album will also feature several guest musicians in “supporting roles,” including Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden in the female roles, and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock, and The Spinanes' Rebecca Gates. Of course, The Decemberists will also tour in support of the album, with dates to be announced soon. Ambitious? I sure think so. Good? Most likely.

Hazards of Love

1. Prelude
2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen’s Approach
7. Isn’t it a Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake’s Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

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