January Hymn

VINYL FORMAT. Tracks: "January Hymn" b/w "Roy Jimmy." Import! 'Its A-side - "January Hymn" - is a calling card for the band's fast approaching new LP, The King Is Dead. The album promises to be less encumbered by the conceptual baggage and exaggerated arrangements that reached a somewhat unsustainable zenith with 2009's The Hazards of Love. On the evidence of "January Hymn" the more stripped-down approach suites Colin Meloy and co. surprisingly well. Whilst Meloy's adenoidal tones may never be truly considered warming, with "January Hymn" he finds a cozy ruralized vocal balm that serves the song the well and will please fans who enjoyed the "Record Year for Rainfall" b/w "Raincoat Song" single from 2008's Always The Bridesmaid 7" trilogy. The exclusive flipside however, is the truest delight of this two-sided treat. Through an alluring irony-free reinterpretation of The Grateful Dead's "Row Jimmy," the group takes a stoned '70s country-funk ballad into the realms of folk-gospel uplift, that proves that The Decemberists can do blissful sincerity just as well as wanton verbosity.' - Adequacy.net