We'll Fill Our Mouths With Cinnamon And Sing Rounds.
CD Review: "The Crane Wife" by The Decemberists 
Ever since the first note of Castaways & Cutouts, The Decemberists have made it a point, not to make any points, but to craft lovely melodies and tell stories of lore, of sorrow, of happiness, of shame. At times, the ideas for a thousand books seem present in each album. No matter how thin though, Colin Meloy threads the most minuscule of strings through each of his musical volumes.
The Crane Wife is a bunch of unrelated stories packed tightly around two vignettes based on a Japanese Folk-Tale. Surrounding a man who finds a wounded swan that transforms into a woman as he nurses it back to health, you'd expect to find pillowy materials to buffer the fragile legend. Instead the lovely Crane Wife is held hostage by abrasive narratives describing the gruesome "Shankill Butchers," Babylonian grain sustaining soldiers in "When The War Came," and snipers lining up a well-dressed man for the "Perfect Crime 2."
Through all the topics purveyed, the consistent, self-assured notes of the band and Colin's resolute voice glue, staple, bolt, screw, and nail Crane Wife's frame together. At the end, you're left believing it was skillfully carved from a single piece of the purest wood.
For their first record on Capitol Records, The Crane Wife seems free from all pressures normally brought to independent bands who sign to majors. None of these songs appear forced. Every song that could be a potential hit single carries symbols of past Decemberists' beauties. The first single "O Valencia" is very polished and nonchalant sounding (much like "16 Military Wives" on the album previous). Carried along by the galloping hi-hats and chiming guitar chords, it's not worried at all about how it will be received. The instruments all serve to brighten up the dark storyline (A woman taking her family's bullet for her lover) perfectly.
The last song on Crane Wife, "Sons and Daughters," leaves the sweet taste of cinnamon (as the lyrics suggest) and the beautiful vocal rounds bounce around in circles to your ear. The only option is to put the thing on repeat and bask in its radiance once more. Calculated or not, The Crane Wife is an artful continuance of Picaresque's path, and a much affirmed step for these road-tested Portland darlings.
Pick up The Crane Wife on iTunes 
