When last we heard from Colin Meloy and his merry band of indie rockers, they were trapped in a mythical world full of forest creatures, evil queens and a shapeshifter right out of a vintage Dungeons & Dragons game. The album that they conjured, Hazards Of Love, was an adventurous, prog-rock opus that left some thrilled (I count myself in that group) and others dumbfounded.

The title of The Decemberists’ latest release, The King Is Dead, could very well be the band’s cheeky acknowledgement that they’ve descended from the fantastical realms of Hazards into earthbound reality. Luckily, Meloy’s songwriting gifts translate just fine into the real world, and this album, while not as daring, may find much more of a consensus of goodwill from fans than its predecessor.

Meloy is talking about stuff here that poets good and bad have been analyzing as far back as the beginning of language: moons, mountains, trees, the changing of the seasons, etc. It’s probably the right move to stick with natural wonders, because returning to mythological mumbo-jumbo could easily have produced diminishing returns.

The sound of this album is also in sharp contrast to what The Decemberists were doing on Hazards. No more intricate, multi-part song suites here; just straightforward heartland rock on the up-tempo numbers and folk and country flourishes on the slow songs. Luckily, it’s an album suffused with melody, so that even songs with clear antecedents shine through with a fresh glow.

Opening song “Don’t Carry It All” owes a debt to Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels” with its stomping beat and prominent harmonica, and it easily achieves uplift through a memorable chorus. Meanwhile, first single “Down By the Water” plays like an ominous cross between Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” and R.E.M.’s “The One I Love.”

In fact, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck plays guitar on the latter track and a few others, and he must have felt right at home contributing to “This Is Why We Fight,” a churning rocker in which Meloy’s lyrics channel all of Michael Stipe’s beguiling inscrutability.

The other major collaborator on The King Is Dead is alt-country/bluegrass star Gillian Welch, who provides backing vocals. She follows Meloy down every tuneful turn, and her soulfulness provides a nice contrast to the cerebral lyrics.

Welch particularly shines on a pair of moving folk songs. On “January Hymn,” she’s an ethereal presence floating somewhere far beyond the reach of the frontman, but on “June Hymn,” she duets with him, the pair enjoying a sweet summer reunion.

To close out the album, The Decemberists employ some pedal steel to conjure the elemental sadness of a mother letting her child go out into the cruel world on “Dear Avery.” The song is just one more example of Colin Meloy’s ability to depict universal themes in touchingly timeless ways.

Throughout the entirety of the album, he fills his idylls to nature with images of such painterly beauty that The King Is Dead doesn’t need to resort to any magic. The simple pleasures within turn out to be downright magical all on their own.

SAMPLE "THE KING IS DEAD"

"June Hymn"

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"This is Why We Fight"

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"Dear Avery"

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