Music Review: The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love - Page 2

Fairy tale it may be, but there’s an undeniable erotic subtext. William and Margaret are clearly getting it on in their flower-bedecked arbor, and Margaret’s "swelling waist" (old-school speak for a baby bump) is the first of love’s hazards to cloud their bliss. In one of the album’s most mesmerizing songs, “The Wanting Comes in Waves,” William convincingly pleads the case for carnal desire, with a surging melody that shivers up and down the scale. When it’s reprised later on the album, your ear tends to greet it like an old friend.

The story gathers up a head of steam in songs like “The Abduction of Margaret” and “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing,” with their chase-scene tempo and throbbing intensity. (Meloy could write some kick-ass soundtracks if he wanted to.) Although true love wins out in the end, in the grim spirit of the old ballads the lovers escape only by courting death.

The Decemberists actually expect you to listen to the whole album start to finish — how quaint! And yet that's really the best way to appreciate it, to surrender to its spell. If you’ve liked other work by the Decemberists, you’re bound to like this – they’ve got their trademark groove pretty well refined by now. The converse is also true; if you can’t hear lines like “And we’ll lie ‘til the corncrake crows” without smirking, this may not be your cup of tea. But grand as the musical gestures are, the Decemberists keep things steadily in the rock music vein. Though you know how the story has to turn out, it’s surprisingly easy to get swept up in it. It’s a peculiar kind of larceny, but I have to admit, I’m seduced by it.

Article Author: Holly Hughes

Holly A Hughes has been a rock 'n roll fan since February 9, 1964. She's heard it all, on vinyl, cassettes, 8-track tapes, CDs, and mp3 files. But so long as it's got a good beat, she'll dance to it.

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