The Decemberists Issue #39

The Hazards Of Love

By Anna Giuliani
Published: March 1st, 2009 | 3:01pm

Colin Meloy, the Decemberists’ erudite, whimsical ringleader, is a high Victorian in indie rock clothing. The Decemberists’ tunes-as-tales vision blossomed into full-fledged musical novella on 2006’s The Crane Wife, but The Hazards Of Love disrupts the equilibrium and delves into “rock opera” mode.

The plotline details the ill-fated courtship of half-woman/half-creature, Margaret (Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark), her lover William, a forest queen (Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond), and a merciless “rake.” The acoustic chords of “Prelude” and woodsy sweetness of “The Hazards Of Love 1” soon give way to ominous strings, and the Decemberists bring on the drama with “A Bower Scene.” Guitar and organ thunderously surge and recede as the results of earth goddess Margaret’s “amorous entwine” become apparent. The gentle harmonies of “Isn’t It a Lovely Night?” allow Hazard’s lovers a smattering of happiness, but the wail of pedal steel in the background hints at future sorrow. Of all the songs on Hazards Of Love, it’s a cruel joke that the shockingly morbid “The Rake’s Song” best embodies the band’s knack for seductive melody.

While The Hazards Of Love is not without intriguing word play and harmonious interludes, the mystical saga ultimately seems so overwrought, it fails to incite much emotion.