New Decemberists: “Summersong”
Today Capitol/EMI gave Pitchfork the honor of premiering a track from the Decemberists’ upcoming major label debut, The Crane Wife, out on October 3rd. It’s a Pitchfork exclusive, but hey, they pretty much stole my scoop on Epic Man (same picture, same song, paraphrased write-up), so I’m going ahead and posting it here as well (and being the nice guy that I am, not even jacking their bandwith). Those who know their way around the leaky internet, myself included, have been enjoying the album for about two weeks now, but this is the first that everyone else has gotten a chance to hear it, as Capitol’s been fairly all-over-it when it comes to shutting down leaked tracks on the blogs. “Summersong”, though not the best track on the album, is one of the most immediately-accessible songs and has possibly the catchiest vocal structure (though “Sons & Daughters” gives it a run for it’s money) on The Crane Wife.
Of all the tracks on The Crane Wife, “Summersong” is the most major-label-esque, with it’s simplistic, accessible melody, immediately catchy vocals and higher production values, but worry not, the Decemberists have by no means sold out. I mean, c’mon, there’s two 11+ minute epics on the album, it doesn’t get any less accessible than that. As I said before, there are a handful of songs on the album better than “Summersong” (”O Valencia”, “Sons & Daughters”, and “The Crane Wife 3″, just to name a few), but as Pitchfork noted as well, none are more appropriate for the waning days of summer, which so many of us are experiencing now. Colin sings with nostalgia of a summer love lost over a languorous accordion, lamenting the passing of summer as it gets “swallowed by a wave”. I know a thing or two about summer loves lost (yeah, weep for me), and for anyone whose been in a similar situation, “Summersong” is a good as any to reflect on old memories to. If Death Cab’s “Summer Skin” was the essential end-of-summer song of 2005, “Summersong” is this year’s update.
MP3: “Summersong” - The Decemberists
As I mentioned earlier, one of the tracks on the album that bests “Summersong” is potential first single “O Valencia”, which has seen exposure as part of Meloy solo show setlists over the past year or so. While I can’t share the album version due to the potential ramifications (y’all want another hiatus?), I can share an excellent-quality solo recording from Colin’s August 2005 solo performance at The Beachcomber. The song’s structure remains identical on the album, though he obviously doesn’t forget the lyrics in the final version and the album sees the introduction of a full band to the track, but don’t worry, it remains every bit as catchy.
MP3: “O, Valencia” - Colin Meloy