Reviews

On {^Her Majesty}, {$the Decemberists}' follow-up to their excellent debut, {^Castaways and Cutouts}, the group cements its reputation as a seafaring {$Belle & Sebastian} or a more grounded {$Neutral Milk Hotel}. Tying together sweet symphonic {\pop} with a ragtag theatricality, this album is more ambitious and more scattered than {^Castaways and Cutouts}, making it an initially less accessible and more difficult listen. However, many of {^Her Majesty}'s most indulgent moments are among its best, including the high drama of the album opener, {&"Shanty for the Aretheusa,"} an epic that runs with the dark beauty that haunted the corners of {$the Decemberists}' debut and gives it a wild, rambling edge. Likewise, {&"The Gymnast, High Above the Ground"} also displays the band's expertise at creating subtle but palpable drama and swooning romanticism with just a few musical brush strokes. The wonderfully named {&"I Was Meant for the Stage,"} a triumphantly bittersweet song for the inner drama queen in everyone, shows off {$Colin Meloy}'s uniquely expressive voice: at one moment he's lispingly fey; the next, he's sneering self-deprecatingly. These beautiful, challenging songs make the band's occasional dips into treacle, such as the cloying {&"Billy Liar,"} forgivable, but what makes {^Her Majesty} such a solid album is the consistent quality of the songs pitched between its high and low points. {&"Los Angeles, I'm Yours"} flirts with {\soft rock}, coming across as a latter-day single from {$Al Stewart}; {&"Your Red Right Ankle"} is an intimately and creatively detailed love song; and {&"Song for Myla Goldberg"} has a sunny, winning appeal. Even though {^Her Majesty} isn't quite as striking and full-formed as {^Castaways and Cutouts}, it's still a consistently charming album that finds the band coming into its own. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide