The King Is Dead

Despite having already devoted a decade to ruling the waters of Portland’s diverse indie scene, The Decemberists are showing no signs of tiring. On The King Is Dead they’ve dropped anchor, waving goodbye to the sea shanties of the acclaimed Picaresque and travelling inland to pursue the rolling plains of country-rock, in an album evocative of Neil Young by way of vintage R.E.M. In fact, with those steel guitars and harmonicas perfectly complementing Colin Meloy’s quavering vocals, plus guest guitar-work from Peter Buck himself, being land-locked may just have launched them on their most exciting musical voyage yet.