>>>The Decemberists' new album, The King Is Dead, lands on January 18. Following the conceptual sprawl of The Crane Wife and The Hazards of Love, mainman Colin Meloy promises a back-to-basics approach. Billboard reports:

"For this record, I was just kind of letting the songs come naturally," Meloy says. "It was my interest, having gone through a phase of feeling like each song could open up into another song, which made for these longer, multiple-part songs. I think I'm sort of over that for the time being. I'm just really enjoying kind of concise, 3-4 minute songs like I did in the early days of The Decemberists."

Meloy probably isn't done creating grandiose narratives within his music. He's been approached by theater director Michael Mayer (of Green Day's American Idiot), and a Decemberists stage production seems like a natural progression. (Meloy's thoughts on a musical, Beastie Boys' Fight For Your Right Revisited and the end of Faith No More after the jump!)

This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2010.