I’ve really been digging The Decemberists’ recent release, Picaresque.
Lead singer Colin Meloy’s unique voice (sorta similar to Vertical Horizon’s Keith Kane) combines interestingly with the band’s lush, grandiose sound, creating something that sounds like an amalgam of Death Cab for Cutie and Matthew Sweet.
I particularly enjoy “We Both Go Down Together”, a dramatic, literate pop-rocker. “The Engine Driver”, which is getting a good amount of play on local station WXPN, is also a quite catchy.
Meloy’s voice can grate after awhile, and “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is especially trying, but overall this is one of the year’s best so far.