After 5 albums and countless tour dates around the world, THE DECEMBERISTS finally head our way this coming January for the first time, headlining both their own shows around the country as well as joining the sold out National Big Day Out. The band will be playing in both Sydney and Melbourne and will draw from their full catalogue for both these intimate club shows.
Hailing from Portland, Oregon the band make their Australian pilgrimage on the back of their latest release – The Hazards Of Love – the follow-up to their 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife.
From their debut, Castaways and Cutouts, in 2002, and its follow-up Her Majesty only a year later, the band have been defined by their eccentricities from the beginning. Producing 18-minute songs, tangled narratives, and featuring accordions, cellos, Wurlitzers, bouzoukis and hurdy-gurdies, THE DECEMBERISTS are no ordinary band.
2005’s Picaresque, brought them a small measure of fame, and the aforementioned 2006’s The Crane Wife was as close to a smash-hit as a folk-rock quintet from Portland can reasonably hope to score with its catchy, concise single “O Valencia!” With songs that range from upbeat pop to instrumentally lush ballads, the band favour the storytelling approach when it comes to songwriting. The 17 tracks on their latest album are no exception.
Producing an old–fashioned prog concept record, The Hazards Of Love is way more about the sound journey than killer choruses, with strummy British folk rock and heavy–metal thunder, orchestral strings and even a children’s choir. Full of sprawling song suites, the album is a grandiose narrative about star-crossed lovers William and Margaret – and the dastardly villains who beset them.
With their fifth full-length album, the quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative and creative forces in music today.
You can catch THE DECEMBERISTS at the following venues:
Sydney – Tuesday 19 January
Metro Theatre
Tickets: Ticketek.com.au & metrotheatre.com.au,
Ph: (02) 9550 3666 or http://ovepolice.com.au/decemberists
Melbourne
Sunday 24 January
Billboard
Tickets: Ticketek.com.au, Billboard & Polyester
or http://lovepolice.com.au/decemberists
