Review: The Decemberists – I’ll Be Your Girl

I’ll Be Your Girl occasionally shows signs of brilliance, but its indecisiveness results less in ingenuity and more in blandness.

 

The Decemberists have always been a somewhat anachronistic band. While other bands looked at recent decades for their image, the Decemberists looked back centuries. Other bands wrote about urban living, hazy nights, and spurned lovers; my first introduction to the Decemberists was a nine-minute sea shanty. And when bands were trying to reinvent what could be done with the standard rock lineup of guitar, bass, and drums, the Decemberists reached for accordions, organs, and even a hurdy-gurdy. Their lyrics are full of words you haven’t heard since the SAT. And they’re even from Portland, a city that can’t figure out what decade it is. If there’s one thing that can be said about the Decemberists, it’s that they defy trends.

This is why the indie world collectively shit itself when the Decemberists unveiled “Severed,” the first single from their eighth studio album I’ll Be Your Girl. Right off the bat, the track’s lead instrument is not a banjo, bouzouki, or violin, but a synthesizer. That’s right, the instrument that’s slowly crept its way into the albums of seemingly every indie folk and rock group in the past few years was now being embraced by the Decemberists, whose previous albums suggested they would be one of the last bands to edge towards synthpop. Sure, they have used old-timey Wurlizters before, but not the drum machines, repetitive synthesizer lines, and reverberating vocal effects found on “Severed.” The general consensus on the single seemed to range from “what the hell?” to “et tu, Decemberists?”

After the denial and anger that the Decemberists have potentially gone electro comes acceptance. They’ve certainly proved themselves capable musicians and songwriters in their almost twenty years as a band, so if other, lesser bands can handle a few electronic effects, who’s to say the Decemberists couldn’t? The album’s second single “Once In My Life” lends credence to this view, as it opens with more folk-sounding acoustic guitar strumming, and frontman Colin Meloy gives once of his most powerful vocal performances to date, singing in a clean, low tone seldom heard since his Tarkio days. When a synthesizer enters around the song’s non-chorus, it plays a much more subtle role than in “Severed,” and its warm tones could have been provided by an electric guitar in a parallel universe. It’s not the most thrilling Decemberists track thanks to its circular lyrics, but it did give hope that I’ll Be Your Girl would be a gradual step into this new style, something more akin to folktronica than a total reinvention of the band.

Upon hearing the whole album, it seems like a total reinvention might have been better for the Decemberists than I’ll Be Your Girl, a release that seems to suffer from an identity crisis. However much you might have steeled yourself for an electronic-based Decemberists after hearing “Severed” or “Once In My Life,” you probably weren’t prepared for an album that takes a “see what sticks” approach from start to finish. This isn’t a criticism of eclectic albums in general, but I’ll Be Your Girl feels like a series of half-steps into the band’s past and future, leaving you wondering where the Decemberists stand.

Despite hints that the future of the Decemberists lays with digital instrumentation, the synthesizers shown off on the first two singles turned out to be a bit of a red herring. Only the first three tracks of I’ll Be Your Girl are electronic in nature, with “Cutting Stone” completing the trifecta alongside “Once In My Life” and “Severed.” “Cutting Stone” might be the best example of old vs. new on the album, as it evokes the same traditional-sounding folk songs upon which the Decemberists have built their career. It’s also one of the more narrative-driven songs on the album, as Meloy sings prosaic verses like “Cutting stone oh fear me none/Whether wild or whether won” about the power of the titular stone. These more archaic attributes contrast nicely against the new-wave synthesizers and electric bass effects, as if it’s bringing a folktale into modernity. It’s a very natural sound for the Decemberists, but mostly serves as a “what could have been” on I’ll Be Your Girl.

The remainder of the album is well-traveled territory for the Decemberists, alternating between acoustic-based Americana and borderline-novelty songs, with nary a synthesizer in sight. You may recall that after four albums of baroque pop vignettes littered with historical allusions, the band released a rock opera (The Hazards of Love) and two relatively straightforward folk albums (The King is Dead and What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World). I’ll Be Your Girl takes several cues from these two latter-day releases, with tracks like “Sucker’s Prayer” echoing some of the country tones from “Rise to Me” off The King is Dead, and the album’s title track veering slightly towards pop in the vein of What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. The militaristic stomp of “Starwatcher” and the gently-strummed “Tripping Along” fall into this category as well. While it’s not too surprising for the Decemberists to continue along the trajectory established by their last couple albums, the familiarity of these tracks feels slightly lackluster on I’ll Be Your Girl.

In contrast to the album’s bread-and-butter folk songs, I’ll Be Your Girl also recalls the Decemberists at their most theatrical. Unfortunately, while a choir of ghost children made sense in the context of a rock opera and you wouldn’t question a mother’s pleas for vengeance in a sea shanty, these moments make far less sense on I’ll Be Your Girl. The high-pitched “na na na’s” on “Your Ghost” make it sound like something from a children’s play, and the track mostly serves to startle those listening to the album chronologically, coming after the subdued “Tripping Along.” Likewise, “We All Die Young” serves as proof that songs shouldn’t include a kid’s cheer chorus unless you’re the Go! Team. The concept behind “Everything Is Awful” is funny enough – a chant of its titular phrase is sung in the most chipper manner possible – but the gimmick perhaps didn’t need to go on over three minutes. The Decemberists are one of the few bands who could get away with the gaudiness of these tracks, but their inclusion on I’ll Be Your Girl proves that there’s a time and place for everything.

Standing alone amidst the electronica, straightforward folk, and novelty is “Rusalka, Rusalka/Wild Rushes,” a song that almost feels too good for I’ll Be Your Girl. It’s not only significantly longer than the other tracks at over eight minutes long, but it namedrops a mermaid-like creature from Slavic literature, includes an easily-followed lyrical narrative, and each section ends with the narrator’s death. Can you think of anything more Decemberists than that? It’s a welcome return to form for the band, rehashing the best folk-rock moments from The Hazards of Love, and is such a strong track you might not notice how wildly out of place it is on I’ll Be Your Girl.

At one point, Meloy described I’ll Be Your Girl as an “apocalyptic dance party,” reflecting on the insanity of the Trump era. This phrase turned out to be misleading on two counts: only “Severed” really resembles anything of a “dance party,” and only a few tracks on the album (namely “Everything is Awful” and “Severed”) have vaguely political overtones. Apparently, Meloy was hesitant to even make the album political at all, somewhat disappointing considering this is the band who made “16 Military Wives,” and his hesitancy culminated in a perfunctory airing of his sentiments. This kind of sums up the album, as I’ll Be Your Girl doesn’t really dedicate itself to anything. It occasionally shows signs of brilliance, and the electronic direction is arguably one of the most intriguing parts of the album, but its indecisiveness results less in ingenuity and more in blandness.

Rating: 5.5/10

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