The Crane Wife - The Decemberists
107 words, 1 image 
The latest Decemberists album is their first on a major label.
My first reaction was to percieve an edgeing away from their usual quirkiness, but I think that’s just familiarity breeding contempt. After all, three tracks are devoted to the story of the Crane Wife: in which our narrator finds a wounded crane, nurses it back to health, it transforms into a woman, whom he marries.
There’s nothing quite as evocative as “Shanty for the Arethusa” from Her Majesty the Decemberists, nor as joyfully entertaining as “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” from Picaresque, and indeed, nothing quite as nautical as either.
However, there’s ten damned fine tunes here; plenty to enjoy.