THE DECEMBERISTS

Rough Trade can expect much interest in this outfit - billed as a less 'toffy' alternative to our own Mumford and Sons and a more commercial prospect than the not dissimilar Stornoway or Bellowhead, The Decemberists deliver a diluted folk-rock experience that neither offends nor excites to any huge degree. Much of this seventh album is pleasing enough - the strident Make You Better is bursting with singalong qualities demanded of festival audiences and Cavalry Captain is likely to incite drunkenness in droves. There's certainly an element of R.E.M. within these musical walls - Easy Come Easy Go could soundtrack an eventual Michael Stipe solo album and Mistral sounds like a misfit from New Adventure In Hi-Fi. Whether What a Beautiful World will repeat the chart-topping success of its predecessor The King Is Dead remains to be seen.

This review also appeared on Flipside Reviews

Paul PLEDGER
09/02/2015