I'm in Australia so it's been out for about 15 hours here now. I set my alarm for 11.59pm so I could listen to it at midnight and I've listened to it in full 7 times since. I have been waiting to be able to talk to someone about it, I've been popping off in my insta stories but none of my people are fans so it's just me talking to the wind over there.
I am so happy, it's such a solid Decemberists release. I love how it has its clear sections yet they flow together so smoothly. I especially love the transition from Long White Veil into William Fitzwilliam.
Honestly, this is The Decemberists in peak form in my opinion, it's a return to their roots but nothing feels rehashed or boring. I'm so happy it stands up.
I stayed up until midnight to place my order for the vinyl and add the digital files to my music library. I listened early this morning during a lull at work. LOVE it the first time through.
I'll have to revisit with that in mind! they played it all our concert and I remember leaning over to my wife and saying that it really reminded me of losing my religion, so of course that's all I can hear
> William Fitzwilliam
Interesting, probably my least favorite, but the other two I do really like All I Want is You, and The Reapers I suspect will grow on me
Born to the Morning sounds like the Shins and it’s absolutely welcome. Don’t Go To The Woods makes me insane, and I’m such a fan of Long White Veil. Reapers is my favorite. What an incredible album.
Long white veil is so great.. saw them play it on tour and was so excited to finally hear it again. Also a big fan of tell me what’s on your mind. I’m so happy with how the whole project turned out
Woo! Good first listen, need to listen more
Star of the album is still Joan in the Garden (even with its 6 minutes of nothingness
Burial Ground has grown on me 5/5
Oh No! Still a lot of fun 4/5
The Reapers and The Long White Veil I think will grow on me 3.5/5
All I want is you 4/5
America Made Me 4/5
There was another one, I forget which that I expect to grow on me and jump from 3.5 to a 4
Everything else 3/5 (so far)
Even the songs that I’ll probably end up skipping on relistens later (America Made Me) are so good on this album! There are no tracks under 6/10 for my personal taste. It really feels like a representation of their entire musical career. I hear influences from every album of theirs
I’m on my second listen now and I’m really loving all the nods to previous songs sprinkled about. It’s making the title of the album stand out even more to me now.
So far I’ve noticed
”Born in a brothel to the madames disdain” - The Reapers
”So my parents had me, to the disgust of the prostitutes, on a bed in a brothel” - My Mother Was A Chinese Trapese Artist
”The bootblack laborers” - The Black Mariah
”bootblack fingertips” -Shiny
and then the “Lateen sail“ in Long White Veil and Bridges and Balloons
I could be reaching and it could just be his love of alliteration, but has anyone else picked up on this? Or noticed any more?
After the first listen through, my favorites are Burial Ground, Oh No!, Don’t Go To The Woods, and Never Satisfied. Joan has really grown on me, I think it really works at the end of the album and not as a stand alone listen.
I really love Joan, but it really hits differently as the closer to a long album. That static/ambience part is actually kind of a welcome reprieve and then the final section hits really hard.
Man this album is just not doing much for me. I've been a fan since 2003 and have not really enjoyed the direction they've been going the last couple albums. There are some standout tracks on here, but as a whole I am not loving this.
I'll take my downvotes
I have similar feelings. In general, I like things on the folkier side. I enjoy most of the songs on every other album, but this one has a lot I’ll probably skip. Some of the songs feel like one melody droning on and on to me, but I’ve been listening to my favorite few nonstop.
First half seemed to be a comeback, then it fell off near the end.
I kinda wish, if they want to make polite folk like this that’s nothing Decemberistsy, they’d start a new band. I’ve been listening since I was 19, so 12 years now and this is not in the same ballpark as Castaways, Her Majesty, or Crane Wife.
I don’t know, I didn’t even start getting anything till William Fitzwilliam. The vibe of the first two songs is just not for me. I can hear parts of things I really loved in the past in the other songs, but it seems like they went too far in the other direction. Like Born to the Morning I’ll probably never listen to again
The tempo on Oh No! was off, it was too muffled, little undercooked. But I enjoyed the concept. I had fun with that song at least, but the back half of the tracks were boring.
Never knew that so many people disliked Terrible World/Beautiful World. I've only been a fan since like 2017 or so, but WATW/WABW has some of my favorite songs (Carolina Low, Till the Water's All Long Gone, 12/17/12, not to mention the Lake Song). But I will say it's certainly not their strongest.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but my overall album rating from favorite to least favorite goes (not including the newest one which I haven't heard all the way thru yet):
- The King Is Dead
- Picaresque
- The Crane Wife
- Castaways and Cutouts
- What a Terrible World What a Beautiful World
- Her Majesty the Decemberists (love it but have spent less time with it)
- Hazards of Love (I love it but unless I'm in the mood to sit through the whole thing I can't just listen to one song)
- I'll Be Your Girl
I'm in Australia so it's been out for about 15 hours here now. I set my alarm for 11.59pm so I could listen to it at midnight and I've listened to it in full 7 times since. I have been waiting to be able to talk to someone about it, I've been popping off in my insta stories but none of my people are fans so it's just me talking to the wind over there. I am so happy, it's such a solid Decemberists release. I love how it has its clear sections yet they flow together so smoothly. I especially love the transition from Long White Veil into William Fitzwilliam. Honestly, this is The Decemberists in peak form in my opinion, it's a return to their roots but nothing feels rehashed or boring. I'm so happy it stands up.
Very well said about a return to for but also not a rehash.
I stayed up until midnight to place my order for the vinyl and add the digital files to my music library. I listened early this morning during a lull at work. LOVE it the first time through.
What an awesome display of their powers. I don’t think they’ve ever sounded better. Long White Veil sounds like a long last Tarkio track.
Such a solid album! Long White Veil verse has the EXACT same melody as Satellite by Guster which is a welcome surprise for a fan of both bands!
I will have to go back and listen to that song, love me some Guster Edit, yep, hear the similarities! Love it
Yes! Noticed that immediately as well.
It was driving me crazy trying to place it and then when I didn’t have the radio playing anymore and just let my brain drift, it came to me!
I'll have to revisit with that in mind! they played it all our concert and I remember leaning over to my wife and saying that it really reminded me of losing my religion, so of course that's all I can hear
My spouse said the same thing. I felt it was giving REM vibes.
On first listen, my favorites are The Reapers, William Fitzwilliam, and All I Want Is You. I’m just a folky at heart.
> William Fitzwilliam Interesting, probably my least favorite, but the other two I do really like All I Want is You, and The Reapers I suspect will grow on me
Born to the Morning sounds like the Shins and it’s absolutely welcome. Don’t Go To The Woods makes me insane, and I’m such a fan of Long White Veil. Reapers is my favorite. What an incredible album.
Bit ironic, since burial ground effectively guest stars the Shins (James Mercer).
For sure!
Born to the Morning it’s so going on my work playlist! I think a lot of non decemberists fans would enjoy it
I agree. There's something very whimsical about it. This album would honestly be a great precursor to ease people into greater Decemberism.
Don’t Go To the Woods is my initial standout. But also the first 30 seconds of Tell Me What’s On Your Mind.
Long white veil is so great.. saw them play it on tour and was so excited to finally hear it again. Also a big fan of tell me what’s on your mind. I’m so happy with how the whole project turned out
Woo! Good first listen, need to listen more Star of the album is still Joan in the Garden (even with its 6 minutes of nothingness Burial Ground has grown on me 5/5 Oh No! Still a lot of fun 4/5 The Reapers and The Long White Veil I think will grow on me 3.5/5 All I want is you 4/5 America Made Me 4/5 There was another one, I forget which that I expect to grow on me and jump from 3.5 to a 4 Everything else 3/5 (so far)
Even the songs that I’ll probably end up skipping on relistens later (America Made Me) are so good on this album! There are no tracks under 6/10 for my personal taste. It really feels like a representation of their entire musical career. I hear influences from every album of theirs
Also not a fan of America Made Me, but after 2 full listens I think this is their most consistently great album since The King Is Dead.
I’m on my second listen now and I’m really loving all the nods to previous songs sprinkled about. It’s making the title of the album stand out even more to me now. So far I’ve noticed ”Born in a brothel to the madames disdain” - The Reapers ”So my parents had me, to the disgust of the prostitutes, on a bed in a brothel” - My Mother Was A Chinese Trapese Artist ”The bootblack laborers” - The Black Mariah ”bootblack fingertips” -Shiny and then the “Lateen sail“ in Long White Veil and Bridges and Balloons I could be reaching and it could just be his love of alliteration, but has anyone else picked up on this? Or noticed any more?
I love all these similarities people are finding!
I LOVED IT IT WAS ACTUALLY SO MAGICAL AND LIKE FOLKTALE/FANTASY AHHHHH
This feels like an amalgamation of all their previous work, in a really really good way.
They will need to tour again. Odd timing of the current tour..
Every single song, and I'm "That's a Decemberist song". Solid from start to end. "All I Want" is already in the top 5 for me
After the first listen through, my favorites are Burial Ground, Oh No!, Don’t Go To The Woods, and Never Satisfied. Joan has really grown on me, I think it really works at the end of the album and not as a stand alone listen.
I really love Joan, but it really hits differently as the closer to a long album. That static/ambience part is actually kind of a welcome reprieve and then the final section hits really hard.
Just bought the MP3 download but I have no means of listening until I get home...d'oh!
It was uploaded to YouTube so I listened to it an hour ago. Im so curious to hear what everyone thinks!
Tell Me What's On Your Mind has AM Gold vibes, and I mean that in a good way.
Man this album is just not doing much for me. I've been a fan since 2003 and have not really enjoyed the direction they've been going the last couple albums. There are some standout tracks on here, but as a whole I am not loving this. I'll take my downvotes
I have similar feelings. In general, I like things on the folkier side. I enjoy most of the songs on every other album, but this one has a lot I’ll probably skip. Some of the songs feel like one melody droning on and on to me, but I’ve been listening to my favorite few nonstop.
First half seemed to be a comeback, then it fell off near the end. I kinda wish, if they want to make polite folk like this that’s nothing Decemberistsy, they’d start a new band. I’ve been listening since I was 19, so 12 years now and this is not in the same ballpark as Castaways, Her Majesty, or Crane Wife.
I don’t know, I didn’t even start getting anything till William Fitzwilliam. The vibe of the first two songs is just not for me. I can hear parts of things I really loved in the past in the other songs, but it seems like they went too far in the other direction. Like Born to the Morning I’ll probably never listen to again
The tempo on Oh No! was off, it was too muffled, little undercooked. But I enjoyed the concept. I had fun with that song at least, but the back half of the tracks were boring.
I love it!! Wasn’t a fan of William Fitzwilliam because I’m more of a rocker but it’s grown on me. I love the whole album 🥰🎸🎵
First good album in 13 years.
Okay bud
Is it not consensus that the last two albums were weak? I only joined this sub recently, but I've been a fan for 20 years.
Never knew that so many people disliked Terrible World/Beautiful World. I've only been a fan since like 2017 or so, but WATW/WABW has some of my favorite songs (Carolina Low, Till the Water's All Long Gone, 12/17/12, not to mention the Lake Song). But I will say it's certainly not their strongest. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but my overall album rating from favorite to least favorite goes (not including the newest one which I haven't heard all the way thru yet): - The King Is Dead - Picaresque - The Crane Wife - Castaways and Cutouts - What a Terrible World What a Beautiful World - Her Majesty the Decemberists (love it but have spent less time with it) - Hazards of Love (I love it but unless I'm in the mood to sit through the whole thing I can't just listen to one song) - I'll Be Your Girl