THE DECEMBERISTS THE CRANE WIFE

Their major label debut. Tucker Martine co-produces a song-cycle inspired by a Japanese folk tale, incorporating songs about the siege of Leningrad, The Tempest and the UVF. MELOY: There was a lot of interest from labels, and I felt we were ready to move on. Suddenly there was worry about airplay and ticket sales, but nothing really changed. We had as much freedom as before. Just to prove it, I was interested in flexing the expansiveness of the writing. My head was all over the map, I was into the narrative style at the time. I wrote some songs in Ireland. Carson [Ellis, Meloy’s partner and Decemberists cover artist] and I were renting a cottage on the west coast for three weeks. “Summersong” and “Shankill Butchers” came from that. My son was born in the middle of the demoing process. I finished the last few demos sneaking down to the dining room very early in the morning. I felt we were doing everything on our own terms.

FUNK: It was a bit bloody-minded. We listened to early Genesis and Gentle Giant, so accepting a song cycle like “Crane Wife I, II, III” wasn’t difficult for us at all. We could sink our teeth into it.

MELOY: At this point, the band was prepared for anything. For the first time, I was writing for people’s strengths. Coming from the world of Jethro Tull, I knew Jenny [Conlee, keyboards] would dive into “The Landlord’s Daughter” with glee. For the first time we hadn’t played any of the songs live; we worked on arrangements in the studio. The prog-out jams became fully embraced!