More New Decemberists: “After The Bombs”
Oooooh. Check it out: there are five songs written, fully-produced and supposedly ready for release that were cut from The Crane Wife, and the search is now on to find those songs. Fortunately, I’ve got one of them right here for you because I’m awesome (or just because I’m iTunes-savvy, you decide). “After The Bombs”, possibly a follow-up to the “here all the bombs fade away” refrain that closes out “Sons & Daughters”, is a tender piano ballad, the likes of which aren’t seen on any other song on The Crane Wife. Straightforward and fairly introspective, “After The Bombs” lacks the bombast and epic qualities of the album tracks, but makes nicely for an enjoyable b-side, which is exactly the purpose it’s destined to serve. Below is the download link for “After The Bombs”, as well as a list of the other four songs known to exist, though only one of them’s been found to this point.
MP3: “After The Bombs” - The Decemberists
- “The Culling Of The Fold” (available here courtesy of Bon Ton)
- “The Day I Knew You’d Not Come Back”
- “Hurdles Even Here”
- “The Perfect Crime #1″
“After The Bombs” is the bonus track received when one purchases the album at the US iTunes store, while “The Culling Of The Fold” is apparently the bonus download received when The Crane Wife is purchased at Tower Records. Thus, it’s reasonable to believe that the rest of the tracks will be bonus incentives on other releases of the album, though I think it’s most likely that they’ll serve as b-side fodder (though the “O Valencia” single is listed without any b-sides on the iTunes store and elsewhere) or as a bonus record in the album’s vinyl release a la Picaresqueties. If you have or know where I can find any of these other tracks, by all means point me in the right direction so I can share it with the rest of the masses. As for the rest of you, be sure to keep an eye on this post for updates as the search continues.