The Decemberists‘ are making their major label debut next week with the release of The Crane Wife on Capitol Records. You don’t have to wait until October 3rd to form an opinion, however, as the entire album is available for streaming on mtvU’s The Leak a week in advance of the release date. I’ve just started listening to it myself and am currently on the third track “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)”.

Initial reactions so far are that at certain moments the songs seem a bit more punchy, not necessarily “heavier”, but maybe a bit more direct musically. The vocals are still quite obviously those of Colin Meloy, but on “Yankee Bayonet” they don’t seem quite as light as they may have in the past, I may be imagining it but they may seem just a bit weighed down for some reason. The bounce present in some of my favorite Decemberists tracks (”Chimbley Sweep”, “16 Military Wives”) has yet to make an appearance. Again, please note that this is my first listen to the tracks and I’m trying to concentrate on typing at the same time so I may not be accurately representing their sound. Just listen to the stream although I guess maybe the audio quality on the stream is not the best so that could affect the sound as well. Note also that you may need Internet Explorer to listen - I couldn’t get the damn thing to work in Firefox.

Tracklisting
01. The Crane Wife
02. The Island, Come And See, The Landlord’s Daughter, You’ll Not Feel The Drowning
03. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
04. O Valencia
05. The Perfect Crime
06. When The War Came
07. Shankill Butchers
08. Summersong
09. The Crane Wife 1 and 2
10. Sons and Daughters

Tour Dates
10/17: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/18: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/19: San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
10/21: Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
10/22: Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
10/24: Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
10/25: Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Ballroom
10/26: New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
10/27: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
10/29: Washington D.C. @ 9:30 Club
10/30: Washington D.C. @ 9:30 Club
10/31: Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre

11/01: Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/03: New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/04: Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
11/05: Montreal, Quebec @ Metropolis
11/06: Toronto, Ontario @ Kool Haus
11/07: Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
11/09: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
11/10: Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
11/11: Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
11/12: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/14: Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
11/16: Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theatre
11/17: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
11/18: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/19: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom