What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World [Bonus Tracks]

by The Decemberists

Overview

The Decemberists belatedly embraced their indie pop sensibilities (or at very least their fondness for R.E.M.) on 2011's The King Is Dead, and were rewarded with a number one chart placing and the group's greatest commercial success to date, leading some to wonder if Colin Meloy and his bandmates were going to go for more hooks or return to the more ornate sound of their earlier work now that they had a large audience waiting for the follow-up. As it turns out, 2014's What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World finds the Decemberists managing to have it both ways; if anything, many of these songs are brighter and hookier than those on The King Is Dead, but if this is pop, it's pop that's keenly intelligent, melodically adventurous, obsessively literate, and perfectly willing to explore sadness and disappointment rather than just the upbeat moods that are expected to accompany catchy melodies. The melodies on "Lake Song" and "Till the Water Is All Long Gone" may be more streamlined than you'd hear on Picaresque or The Crane Wife, but the arrangements are richly detailed, playing on the dynamics of Chris Funk's guitars, Jenny Conlee's keyboards and accordions, and John Moen's percussion, and the group takes much pleasure in the dour beauty of its melodies. The band also embraces its upbeat side on this album with numbers like "The Wrong Year" and "Philomena" (the latter pondering teenage lust as only the Decemberists can), and the opening track, "The Singer Addresses His Audience," is a witty but cutting meditation on the notion of fame, its impact on the culture, and where the Decemberists fit into the puzzle in the wake of hit records and appearances on Parks & Recreation. There's still more than enough folk in the Decemberists' approach to make them stand apart from their peers on the upper reaches of the pop charts, and the intuitive smarts of their stylistic vision are still front and center, but What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is an album where the creative sprawl is more a matter of how this divergent selection of melodies and moods interacts, rather than how many elements can be folded into one song; this is very clearly the Decemberists, but with a new kind of focus in their songs and arrangements that makes it clear this album's sound is a result of creative evolution, not an offering to their newer, larger audience, and it's a sweet and sour wonder that rewards repeated listening. [What a Terrible World... was also released with two bonus tracks.] ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	01/27/2015
Label:	Rough Trade
UPC:	0883870075626

Tracks

1. The Singer Addresses His Audience
2. Cavalry Captain
3. Philomena
4. Make You Better
5. Lake Song
6. Til the Water's All Long Gone
7. The Wrong Year
8. Carolina Low
9. Better Not Wake the Baby
10. Anti-Summersong
11. Easy Come, Easy Go
12. Mistral
13. 12/17/12
14. A Beginning Song

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Decemberists   Primary Artist
Jeremy Swatzky   Choir/Chorus
Kelly Hogan   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Chris Funk   Banjo,Bouzouki,Mandolin,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Laura Veirs   Choir/Chorus,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Rachel Flotard   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Colin Meloy   Vocals,Bouzouki,Harmonica,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
John Moen   Drums,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Nate Query   Bass (Upright),Bass (Electric)
Rob Moose   Fiddle,Violin,Guest Artist
Ragen Fykes   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Shelley Short   Choir/Chorus
Jenny Conlee   Piano,Accordion,Keyboards,Vibraphone,Organ (Hammond)
Anna Fritz   Cello
Carson Ellis   Choir/Chorus
Victor Nash   Trumpet,Guest Artist
Ritchie Young   Choir/Chorus
Allison Hall   Choir/Chorus
Steven Watkins   Choir/Chorus
Kyleen King   Viola,Choir/Chorus
Patti King   Violin
Moorea Masa   Choir/Chorus,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Michael Finn   Choir/Chorus
Bridgit Jacobson   Choir/Chorus

Technical Credits

Stephen Marcussen   Mastering
Tucker Martine   Engineer,Producer
Colin Meloy   Composer
Rob Moose   String Arrangements
The Decemberists   Producer
Carson Ellis   Hand Lettering,Illustration Concept
Jeri Heiden   Design
Autumn de Wilde   Photography
Glen Nakasako   Design
Dennis Stainken   Marketing
Arjun Pulijal   Product Manager
Michael Finn   Assistant Engineer