“Down By the Water”
from the album The King is Dead
2011
iTunes

“Down By the Water” has been floating around in live form for a little while now, but The Decemberists have now made the studio version available for free download. The track definitely reflects the more straightforward direction lead singer Colin Meloy has implied the band’s new album The King is Dead (January) will take, and should act as a nice palate cleanser for those who were less than impressed with their sprawling epic The Hazards of Love. Gillian Welch and Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) are on hand, contributing backing vocals and 12-string guitar, respectively. The latter’s appearance only reinforces Meloy’s claim that the album is strongly influenced by R.E.M. Basically, Meloy is telling no lies or exaggerations this time around.

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Founded in Madison, WI in 2005, Jonk Music is a daily source for new music.

3 Responses

  1. melissa.

    waiting two more months for their new album is going to be the death of me. i wasn't sure where they were going to go after "the crane wife" and "the hazards of love" but this is just incredible.

    colin meloy's band before the decemberists was much more alt-country, so i was really crossing my fingers he would bring some of that in. prayers have been answered!

    thanks for sharing the full version of the song!

  2. Lenny

    I liked this track better when it was was on Document and called "The One I Love"