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The Decemberists Five Songs EP
Hush reissue
“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.”
-T.S. Eliot, "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
This favorite line of mine comes to mind when listening to this, maybe partly due to front man Colin Meloy's crystal clear voice chiming out the chanties. But mainly because few bands have the ability to transport a listener so damn easily as The Decemberists. The swelling and creaking accordion alone drops you right onto a pirate ship coursing over the swelling waves. Then add an eclectic blend of instrumentation including Chris Funk showcasing the pedal steel, an upright bass, drums, acoustic guitar, and that pure voice of Colin Meloy and you’ve got a nouveau-seafaring sound. Couple that sound what they do with it – which is create a carefree, catchy, upbeat, sing-song-writing style - and you’ve got quite a fine mix.
Track listing:
01 Oceanside
02 Shiny
03 My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist
04 Angel, Won't You Call Me?
05 I Don't Mind
06 Apology Song
Meloy remains consistent with his other albums in writing fictional tales mainly about the sea on each of these songs, except in “Apology Song,” in which Meloy starts “I’m really sorry Steven, but your bicycle’s been stolen, I was watching it for you till you came back in the fall.” Perhaps this is the extra “sixth” track on the Five Songs EP. Meloy strays from his detached, fictional writing for this one. Not to say that detachment creates something impersonal, quite the contrary, through his fictional descriptions Meloy creates something very personal and genuine, just like good literature does.
Their ever-literate lyrics over the richly layered music create something wholly magical and personal at the same time, this use of literary elements including alliteration and unique phrasing complement the music perfectly. In the first track, “Oceanside,” when Meloy sings, “Oh, if I could only get you Oceanside to lay your muscles wide it’d be heavenly. Oh, if I could only coax you overboard, leave these lulling shores, and get you Oceanside,” it says more about desire than most songs that try to. And in keeping with literary tradition, Meloy incorporates an abundance of charming characters into his tales. Take track three, where he begins:
“My mother was a Chinese trapeze artist In pre-war Paris
Smuggling bombs for the underground.
And she met my father at a fete in Aix-en-Provence.
Disguised as a Russian cadet in the employ of the Axis.
And there in the half-light of the provincial midnight
To a lone concertina they drank in cantinas
And toasted to Edith Piaf and the fall of the Reich.”
A colorful song that mixes “ancient melodies,” so to speak, with hints of the country beginnings of Meloy’s songwriting, as does “Shiny” with it’s bit of twangy guitar here and there. As in all of their music, mixing the old and the new, the grounded and heavenly, in the most skillful way.
These lyrically and musically crafty tunes are just as enchanting as the rest of their releases. From the start, I can hear the mermaids singing. Only, unlike T. S. Eliot's poor Prufrock, they spoke to me and "said something to me about my life." And also unlike Prufrock in "Love Song," every bit of this met my high expectations.
