The Decemberists have released “Once In My Life,” the second single from their inspired new album I’ll Be Your Girl, which will be released March 16 on Rough Trade Records.
By embracing different influences (Roxy Music, New Order) and working with a new producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana del Rey), the acclaimed Portland, Oregon-based band broadened their sonic range and explored new approaches to making music.
“When you’ve been a band for 17 years, inevitably there are habits you fall into,” says the band’s lead singer and songwriter Colin Meloy. “So our ambition this time was really just to get out of our comfort zone. That’s what prompted working with a different producer and using a different studio. We wanted to free ourselves from old patterns and give ourselves permission to try something different.”
The new approach also allowed for a new sense of contribution and involvement from the other band members: guitarist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query, and drummer John Moen. “Since we were going to mix it up, everybody felt like they had more of a voice,” says Meloy, highlighting “Once in My Life,” as a track that the band elevated in the studio. “We were playing that on the road as a folk-rock anthem thing,” he says, “but bringing in that obliterating synth really took it somewhere different. The whole band really stepped up and transformed these arrangements.”
The band has announced the details of I’ll Be Your Girl: The Exploded Version, a limited edition vinyl boxset that features an expanded track listing with four exclusive tracks presented on eight 7” colored records housed inside an extravagant package adorned with full color artwork by Carson Ellis, each one signed by the band. The album will also be released on a multitude of other formats, including 180gm LP, 180gm Limited Edition Orange LP, 180gm Limited Edition Blue LP (available at indie record stores), 180gm Limited Edition Purple LP (available at Barnes & Noble in the US), 180gm Limited Edition White LP (available via Rough Trade Records in Europe), softpak CD, cassette, and digital download.
The Decemberists will kick off their Your Girl / Your Ghost 2018 World Tour on March 22, and have announced the artist line-up for Travelers’ Rest, the second coming of a two-day festival curated by the band that will take place August 4-5 at the Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheatre in Missoula, Montana, USA. The Decemberists will be headlining both days of the festival, once again playing two unique sets, with other confirmed artists announced including Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Tune-Yards, Whitney, Parquet Courts, Tinariwen, I’m With Her, Waxahatchee and Lucy Dacus. Additional artists will be announced later this spring.
YOUR GIRL / YOUR GHOST WORLD TOUR 2018
March 22 – Fox Theater – Pomona, CA ~
March 23 – Arlington Theatre – Santa Barbara, CA ~
March 24 – Innings Festival – Tempe, AZ
April 6 – Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN
April 7 – Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN
April 8 – Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, WI
April 10 – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL #
April 11 – Peoria Civic Center Theater – Peoria, IL #
April 13 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN #
April 14 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN #
April 15 – Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre – Atlanta, GA #
April 16 – North Charleston Performing Arts Center – Charleston, SC #
April 18 – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre – Charlotte, NC #
April 19 – Durham Performing Arts Center – Durham, NC #
April 20 – The National – Richmond, VA #
April 21 – The Anthem – Washington, DC #
April 23 – Smith Opera House – Geneva, NY #
April 24 – Agora Theatre – Cleveland, OH #
April 25 – Peabody Opera House – St. Louis, MO #
May 22 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO +
May 23 – Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO ~
May 25 – Hill Auditorium – Ann Arbor, MI ~
May 26 – Artpark – Lewiston, NY ~
May 27 – Boston Calling Festival – Boston, MA
May 28 – MTELUS – Montreal, QC ~
May 30 – Sony Centre for the Performing Arts – Toronto, ON ~
May 31 – Benedum Center – Pittsburgh, PA ~
June 1 – Nelsonville Music Festival – Nelsonville, OH
June 2 – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre – Indianapolis, IN ~
June 5 – Iroquois Amphitheater – Louisville, KY ~
June 7 – Mann Center for the Performing Arts – Philadelphia, PA ^
June 8 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT ^
June 9 – The Green at Shelburne Museum – Shelburne, VT ^
June 10 – State Theatre – Portland, ME ^
June 13 – BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell – Brooklyn, NY ^
June 15 – MASS MoCA – North Adams, MA
June 15-17 – Mountain Jam – Hunter, NY
June 21 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA ^
June 22 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR ^
June 23 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR ^
August 4-5 – Travelers’ Rest – Missoula, MT
November 4 – Vicar Street – Dublin, Ireland
November 5 – O2 Academy – Glasgow, UK
November 7 – Eventim Apollo – London, UK
November 8 – O2 Academy – Bristol, UK
November 10 – O2 Academy – Leeds, UK
November 11 – Rock City – Nottingham, UK
November 12 – Albert Hall – Manchester, UK
November 14 – Grote Zaal TiVre – Utrecht, Netherlands
November 15 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 16 – Astra – Berlin, Germany
~ with Eleanor Friedberger
# with Tennis
+ with Whitney
^ with M. Ward
