The Decemberists are a folk, sometimes folk-rock band, from Portland. In 2005 they signed with major record label, Capital Records, and followed the next year with the critically acclaimed album, The Crane Wife. This record was partly inspired by a Japanese folk story about a greedy lover.
Their next full-length album came in 2009, where Colin Meloy penned a musical play titled The Hazards of Love. This concept album rocks harder than the previous, drenched in folklore imagery. The story, simply told, is about two lovers -- William and Margret -- fighting against the disapproval of the William's forest Queen mother, who blames Margret for her other son's death. She sends a villain after them, and they escape, just to drown and revel in the peace away from the hazards of love, as it were.... or something like that. It's a lot to parse.
