The shorthand description of
I'll Be Your Girl
,
the Decemberists
' eighth album, is that it's the record where the band decide to ditch the past and engage with the modern world, layering their folk-rock with synthesizers and other contemporary accouterments. The intentional irony is, that this modern sound -- shepherded by producer
John Congleton
, best-known for helming acclaimed albums by
St. Vincent
Angel Olsen
, and
Future Islands
-- is predicated on the New Wave of the '70s and '80s, a sound that would seem like a throwback for nearly any other group, but in the hands of
, such swaths of synths provide a vibrant, colorful jolt.
Congleton
doesn't merely expand the band's palette, he acts as an effective editor for
Colin Meloy
, keeping the proceedings swift and clean. With most of the songs clocking in well under five minutes -- the opening "Once in My Life" and near-closing "Rusalka, Rusalka Wild Rushes," which stretches out over eight minutes, are the exceptions that put the rest of the record into perspective --
plays almost like a series of short stories, a feeling that is accentuated by how each cut feels like its own entity, yet the 11 songs form a tapestry. "Once in My Life" kicks off the record with washes of melancholy, "Severed" pulses to a rhythm straight out of
Gary Numan
, "Starwatcher" is a throwback to classic
Decemberists
ballads, "Your Ghost" gallops to a gothic beat, and "We All Die Young" is a glam stomp through and through. While
Meloy
's lyrics are sharply honed and evocative, it's this cavalcade of sounds that not only makes
compelling, but distinctive among
albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine