You can just picture the eyes rolling in the Capitol Records executive board room when they were told their release of the major label debut album by indie rock faves The Decemberists was going to be a concept album loosely based on a Japanese folk tale with some song suites that clock in at over ten minutes long. Somebody there was smart enough to green light the album though, because “The Crane Wife” is a masterpiece and the next step in the evolution of the folk-rock genre.  

Folk-rock not in the vein of The Byrds or Fairport Convention, but folk music for the twenty first century with Colin Meloy’s vocals and the band’s instrumentation bringing an alt-rock edge to songs in the traditional sense about Civil War soldiers, star crossed lovers and axe murderers. On their three previous albums The Decemberists have shown a passion for timeless songs and period costumes so their fans will be shocked by lyrics in “O Valencia” that actually refer to a car (gasp!) As for the Japanese folk tale, the title song is presented in three parts beginning with “The Crane Wife 3” allowing the others to be told as flashbacks. The narrator sings of the injured crane he nurtures back to health, who becomes his wife as a beautiful woman only to die from overwork. I guess it loses a little in the translation.     

The distracting horn section from their last album “Picaresque” is absent but the beautiful acoustic guitar arrangements are augmented by cellos, pump organs, accordions and even bouzoukis as they built to intense crescendos while maintaining a certain stylistic dignity. The Decemberists make a case for rock as a music for the ages, to be passed down through generations long after the Capitol Records tower has turned to dust. 

Listen for a lot of music this week from The Decemberists’ “The Crane Wife” on Paul Shugrue’s new music show “Out of the Box” Monday through Thursday from 7pm to 9pm and Saturdays from 1pm to 5pm and please make a pledge this week to show your support for Public Radio 89.5 WHRV