They flourish in unpredictability, but The Decemberists always manage to sound recognizable again. This American band was initially considered to belong to the Americana genre, but songwriter and singer had other plans. So were albums like (2006) and (2009) dominated by British progfolk influences and the records afterwards always sounded slightly different. Electro and even glam rock were not
… played yet, but the eighth album I'll Be Your Girl changes that. Keyboardist Jenny Coulee is busy operating the throbbing synths on pounding songs like Starwater and the single Severed. But Meloy continues to sing folky melodies over it, with his signature melancholic vibrato voice. That is also the strength of The Decemberists. Moreover, in the tail of I'll Be Your Girl, the familiar American indie folk takes over again. The diptych Rusalka, Rusalka / Wild Rushes wouldn't even look out of place on The Crane Wife. (MR)more
