Colin is not fooling with that track title. The first song from the Decemberists' forthcoming The Hazards Of Love LP is a cautionary tale of what happens to a rake when he marries too young. The tale being: his wife dies birthing their fourth child leading Colin to off the remaining "three little pests" (pro tip: feed one foxblood, drown another in a tub, burn the last for incurring your wrath). It's a steamroller by Decemberists standards -- vamping on four chords, roughed up by pounding toms and a lot of curdling, hollered "alrights" -- but it's got a happy ending: after all that murder, our anti-hero winds up a contented bachelor. All's well that ends Colin should see a shrink.
The Decemberists - "The Rake's Song" (MP3)
The Hazards Of Love is out 3/24 via Capitol. Spend every minute between now and then stalking Mr. Meloy on Twitter, if only to see how he can possibly negotiate its 140 character limit.
