The Decemberists | A

The Decemberists' new album The King Is Dead is as American as apple pie and baseball. Taking a step back from the theatricality of their 2009 album, Hazards of Love, listeners can find a tranquil energy in lead singer Colin Meloy's warm voice and folk sound.

Leaving their rock sound behind, The Decemberists dig down to their roots to find a more authentic and countrified core. Painting a picture-perfect pastoral, their new album holds a completely new type of narrative. The King Is Dead is rich with stories of anonymous characters guilty for some type of destruction, making the album very thought inducing and emotionally provoking.

There is an element of freedom emitted through The King Is Dead however, as a collective album, it's well thought out. Every song has its own emotion that it wants you to experience and to complement that the order of the track list holds a united wave of emotion to the album's overall feel. For example, in the first track, "Don't Carry It All," Meloy croons, "Here we come to a turning of the season" as the album's opening line.  As "Don't Carry It All" prepares the way for the rest of the album, it does not take much effort from listeners to find its major theme: change.

The Decemberists' revolutionary lyrics and use of an intense string section and harmonicas exemplifies how delicately crafted the album truly is. Drawing you in and demanding you to listen, The Decemberists' The King Is Dead is completely unforgettable.