The Decemberists give fans a taste of ‘The Hazards Of Love’

Hands up who’s itching to hear the new Decemberists record? Yup. Thought as much. In what is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 2009, The Decemberists have offered up a taster of the seventeen track opus that is The Hazards Of Love.

By clicking on this here link, you’ll be redirected to the bands official site where you’re prompted to enter your email address – the download of ‘The Rake’s Song’ will then start automatically. 

The album drops on March 24th. Heres a little insight into what it’s all about from head Decemberist Mr Colin Meloy (pictured): “There’s an odd bond between the music of the British folk revival and classic metal. A natural connection between, like, Fairport Convention and Black Sabbath – of course, Sandy Denny from Fairport even sang with Led Zeppelin on ‘The Battle of Evermore.’ I think there’s a shared sense of narrative and ambience, of moving beyond the first person in your writing. And I thought it would be interesting to mess around with that.”

The album began when Meloy – long fascinated by the British folk revival of the 1960s – found a copy of revered vocalist Anne Briggs’s 1966 EP, titled The Hazards of Love. Since there was no actual song with the album’s title, he set out to write one, but was soon immersed in something much larger.

The Hazards Of Love tells the 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” in the aforementioned “The Rake’s Song.” Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden deliver the lead vocals for the female characters, while My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock and the Spinanes’ Rebecca Gates appear in supporting roles. The range of sounds reflects the characters’ arcs, from the accordion’s singsong lilt in “Isn’t it a Lovely Night?” to the heavy metal thunder of “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing.”

Sounds positively amazing huh? And very, very much like a Decemberists record.