Free Music Friday
The Decemberists Live @ SXSW

Click here and start listing to their new album, The Hazards of Love, performed live this week at South by Southwest.

Worth a listen, brought to you by our friends at NPR -- The Decemberists re always insanely great if you're into literature, great music, and interesting vocals. The Crane Wife (last year?) was their best album to date.

Recent review:

The Decemberists offer listeners a complete thematic journey through "The Hazards of Love" in a fantastical love story.

When committing to the album, you have to listen to it all the way through, without skipping songs, repeating songs or doing anything that can distract you from the storytelling brought through the speakers by the seasoned indie band. Only when this is achieved can you appreciate its complexities.

The lyrics to every song paint a vivid picture of Margaret and her journey for love.

The characters Margaret meets on her journey are a shape-shifting faun, who is Margaret's true love, The Queen and the Rake.

Each song is a different chapter in the tragic love story, and has different characters, themes and events.

The lyrics are the true masterpiece in the album. Without the story, the melody would be repetitive and simple, filled with acoustic instruments like the guitar and violin, with a few organ sounds tucked in here and there.

Most of the really touching, interesting tracks on the album pair complex lyrical stories with memorable melodies.

"The Wanting Comes in Waves" relates a conversation between the over-controlling queen and her son. In the song the son pleads for the chance to follow his heart, and his mother begrudgingly lets him have one free night to follow his heart to Margaret. The melody uses the organ to create a haunting tone, which emphasizes the power struggle between mother and son.

Another standout track is "The Rake's Song." The chilling melody is paired with a horrific and cruel description of how the Rake killed each of his three children. The song is unique because during a casual listen you have one aesthetic experience, but a deeper listen provides a different experience altogether.

The final song on the album, "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)," brings the tragic story to a close.

Its heartbreaking lyrics, -- "with this long last rush of air we speak our vows" -- are enveloped in a casing that pulls together the melodic theme of the album.

The danger with this type of album is the casual listener will not understand or appreciate the complexities of the lyrics. Without the necessary attention the album calls for, the lyrics are lost and the album is reduced to 17 simple, repetitive songs.

"The Hazards of Love" requires time and dedication to fully appreciate its brilliance. Once that time is given, listeners are transported into a complete one-hour story that is not only masterfully told, but is also complete and touching.