Our album of the week is 'I'll Be Your Girl', the eighth full length studio album from Portland, OR's The Decemberists. Frontman Colin Meloy says lyrically the album is informed by the caustic politics of the 2016 Presidential Election and its contentious, even rancorous, aftermath.

However, it's not all doom and gloom this time around. Despite song titles like "Everything Is Awful" and "We All Die Young", Meloy says he genuinely believes that the new album is actually hopeful.

Prior to the release of 'I'll Be Your Girl', much was made in the press of the fact that the band had gone out of the way to break their own mold, to genuinely change how they do what they've done so well for nearly 20 years. While there are definitely a few sonic experiments and detours here and there (the Numan-esque synths on 'Severed', the almost-too-loyal glam stomp of the aformentioned 'We All Die Young'), longtime fans and purists needn't worry that they've lost their favorite band. While the exploration on new methods and sounds keeps the album from feeling truly cohesive, these are still classic Decemberists songs - rich stories full of complex characters, and no shortage of emotion.

The Decemberists' 'I'll Be Your Girl', it's our Album of the Week on The Current.

Resources

The Decemberists - Official Site