As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
The Decemberists (YABB, 2024)
With their latest album, the aptly named As It Ever Was, So Will It Be Again, the Decemberists have solidified their name as one of the most reliable bands of the 21st century. Almost (but not quite) predictable, a comfort listen with a definite bite.
As It Ever Was is no departure from the Decemberists’ brand of lustrous, theatrical songwriting that is fairly bursting with allusions: literary, historical, religious, and mythological. Jumping and mixing genres from folk to rock, country to shanty, even a bit of early-aughts alternative, their ninth album is a natural extension of what has characterized the Decemberists for more than twenty years: frontman Colin Meloy’s signature voice and rich imagination bring whole epics to life in rich, poetic lyrics many layers deep…alongside a few sweet, simple songs about love.
There is a sense—amid shifting sounds, symbols, and eras—of the constancy of change and the permanence of impermanence. Things may not last forever, but neither will they be gone for long. Everything circles back around.
Standouts include the opening track, “Burial Ground,” a catchy, corpse-y collaboration with James Mercer of The Shins; “America Made Me,” a bombastic anthem that paints a timely portrait of American desperation; and, of course, the 19-minute “Joan in the Garden,” concluding the album with an apocalyptic ode to Joan of Arc: “Oh holy whore androgyne / Come and sunder the stop signs / Break it all so we can build / Again.” And then: “Bring on duke or dauphin / Blood will flow like a fountain / As it ever was so it / Will be again.”
Death is coming, but so is life. To put it Catholically, “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.” Amen.
Image: Decemberists As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, album cover
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