Decemberists, The | As It Ever Was, So It Will Be | CD 111

The first dozen songs are punchy, pithy gems all, reflections on mortality and loneliness, longing and cynicism, expectation and unease. The band animates them brilliantly, pushing out and pulling in at the perfect moments. John Moen practically dances beneath the jangle of opener 'Burial Ground', breathing the life into this song about spiraling toward the end. From the irrepressible 'Oh No!' and guileless tenderness and absolute surrender of 'All I Want Is You', to the romantic ghost story that shimmers behind pedal steel in spite of the specter in 'Long White Veil', these 12 songs alone would constitute a dazzling Decemberists album, rich with woe and love, anxiety and honesty.

TRACKLIST

1. Burial Ground
2. Oh No!
3. The Reapers
4. Long White Veil
5. William Fitzwilliam
6. Don't Go to the Woods
7. The Black Maria
8. All I Want Is You
9. Born to the Morning
10. America Made Me
11. Tell Me What's On Your Mind
12. Never Satisfied
13. Joan in the Garden