Latest Release
- JUN 14, 2024
- 13 Songs
- The King Is Dead · 2010
- What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World · 2015
- The Crane Wife (10th Anniversary Edition) · 2006
- Castaways and Cutouts · 2002
- The Crane Wife · 2006
- I'll Be Your Girl · 2018
- As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again · 2024
- What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World · 2014
- As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again · 2024
- I'll Be Your Girl · 2018
Essential Albums
- On Picaresque, The Decemberists gracefully dance between cultures, centuries, and sounds as Colin Meloy weaves stories together into an astute analysis of humanity—mostly at its lows. Opening with a triumphant, piano-pounding salute to a child monarch ("The Infanta"), the band then jump into modern times with the politically charged, trumpet-wailing "16 Military Wives." In between, a star-crossed tragedy gets adorned in mournful strings ("We Both Go Down Together") and the Belle and Sebastian-esque "The Sporting Life" takes the plaintive perspective of the underdog.
Albums
Music Videos
- 2018
- 2018
- 2015
- 2014
- 2007
Artist Playlists
- Folk tales of yore from Portland, Oregon.
- Old-timey folk tales and chamber pop jamborees.
- Indie iconoclasts who slay as viciously with a pen as a guitar.
- No story is left untold, no instrument unturned.
About The Decemberists
The Decemberists are a folk-influenced rock band known for elaborate stage designs and poetic lyrics inspired by real-life historical events. ∙ Founded in 2000, the group flourished in Portland, Oregon’s indie music scene, continuing the legacy of such ’90s stars as lo-fi folkie Elliott Smith and riot grrrl band Sleater-Kinney. ∙ NPR listeners voted the band’s major-label debut, The Crane Wife—which took inspiration from Shakespeare’s The Tempest and a Japanese folk tale—their favorite album of 2006. ∙ “Down By the Water,” a 2011 song featuring R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and Americana star Gillian Welch, was nominated for a Best Rock Performance Grammy Award. ∙ Their 2011 album, The King Is Dead, which was recorded in a barn on an 80-acre farm, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. ∙ In 2017, the band collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on “Ben Franklin’s Song,” the first track released in the Hamilton composer’s Hamildrops series. ∙ Frontman and lyricist Colin Meloy is also the author of a best-selling children’s fantasy series, The Wildwood Chronicles, and a book on The Replacements’ Let It Be.
- ORIGIN
- Portland, OR, United States
- FORMED
- 2000
- GENRE
- Alternative