I'll Be Your Girl

Last updated
I'll Be Your Girl
Cover of "I'll Be Your Girl".jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
Genre
Length43:06
Label
Producer John Congleton
The Decemberists chronology
The Queen of Hearts
(2017)
I'll Be Your Girl
(2018)
Traveling On
(2018)
Singles from I'll Be Your Girl
  1. "Severed"
    Released: January 17, 2018
  2. "Once in My Life"
    Released: March 10, 2018
  3. "Sucker's Prayer"
    Released: June 4, 2018 [3]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 69/100 [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Pitchfork 6.1/10 [5]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

I'll Be Your Girl is the eighth studio album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released on March 16, 2018 on Capitol and Rough Trade. [7] Produced by John Congleton, the band experimented with new instrumentation during the album's recording sessions, including several synth-based compositions inspired by New Order and Depeche Mode. The album was preceded by the singles, "Severed" and "Once in My Life".

Contents

Writing and composition

The album's lyrical content was, in part, influenced by the 2016 presidential election and its immediate aftermath. Vocalist and guitarist Colin Meloy noted: "[I'll Be Your Girl] celebrates the absurdity of our current predicaments. I think it really is a reflection of my outlook immediately post the 2016 election, where there was immediately this onset of despair. Like real despair. Real depression, and then sort of climbing out of it. Seeing other people feeling the same way, similarly climbing out of their hole and just witnessing events as they came along, rather than with tears. There was almost like an ironic humour but with anger, and those sort of go together. It was about finding the balance between real rage and humour – discovering the wild absurdity in it, but not being blithe." [8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Colin Meloy, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Once in My Life" (Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, Meloy)5:09
2."Cutting Stone"3:20
3."Severed"4:03
4."Starwatcher"2:39
5."Tripping Along"3:35
6."Your Ghost"2:40
7."Everything Is Awful"3:22
8."Sucker's Prayer"3:28
9."We All Die Young"4:01
10."Rusalka, Rusalka / Wild Rushes"8:15
11."I'll Be Your Girl"2:34
Total length:43:06

Personnel

The Decemberists

Additional musicians

Technical

Charts

Chart (2018)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [9] 86
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [11] 133
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [12] 34
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [13] 55
Scottish Albums (OCC) [14] 5
UK Albums (OCC) [15] 8
US Billboard 200 [16] 9

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Decemberists</span> American indie rock band

The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query (bass), and John Moen (drums).

<i>Castaways and Cutouts</i> 2002 studio album by The Decemberists

Castaways and Cutouts is the first full-length album by The Decemberists, originally released on May 21, 2002, on Hush Records and reissued on May 6, 2003, on Kill Rock Stars. The album's title is taken from a lyric of the song "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade".

<i>Like a Rock</i> 1986 studio album by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

Like a Rock is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger, released in 1986. The title track is best known for being featured in Chevrolet truck commercials throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

<i>11</i> (The Smithereens album) 1989 studio album by The Smithereens

11 is the third studio album by American rock band The Smithereens, released on October 24, 1989, by Capitol Records. It includes the Billboard Top 40 single "A Girl Like You". The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in June 1990.

<i>Picaresque</i> (album) 2005 studio album by The Decemberists

Picaresque is the third studio album from The Decemberists. It was released in 2005 on the Kill Rock Stars record label. The word "picaresque" refers to a form of satirical prose originating in Spain, depicting realistically and often humorously the adventures of a low-born, roguish hero living by their wits in a corrupt society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Meloy</span> American musician (born 1974)

Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band the Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments.

<i>Little Criminals</i> 1977 studio album by Randy Newman

Little Criminals is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. Like most of Newman's work, the album eschews traditional pop-music themes in favor of musical story-telling, often featuring quirky characters and cynical views. The first song on the album – "Short People" – became a hit single in its own right. The album itself peaked at #9 on the US Billboard 200 chart, Newman's highest-charting album to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carson Ellis</span> American artist

Carson Friedman Ellis is a Canadian-born American children's book illustrator and artist. She received a Caldecott Honor for her children's book Du Iz Tak? (2016). Her work is inspired by folk art, art history, and mysticism.

<i>The Crane Wife</i> 2006 studio album by The Decemberists

The Crane Wife is the fourth album by the Decemberists, released in 2006. It was produced by Tucker Martine and Chris Walla, and is the band's first album on the Capitol Records label. The album was inspired by a Japanese folk tale, and centers on two song cycles, The Crane Wife and The Island, the latter inspired by William Shakespeare's The Tempest. National Public Radio listeners voted The Crane Wife the best album of 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overkill (Men at Work song)</span> 1983 single by Men At Work

"Overkill" is a song by Australian pop rock band Men at Work. It was released in March 1983 as the second single from their second studio album Cargo. Written by lead singer Colin Hay, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100; No. 5 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart; and top 10 in Canada, Ireland, and Norway. The song was a departure from the group's style of reggae-influenced pop rock, featuring a melancholic feel musically and lyrically.

<i>Her Majesty the Decemberists</i> 2003 studio album by The Decemberists

Her Majesty the Decemberists is the second full-length album by The Decemberists, released on September 9, 2003, by Kill Rock Stars. The song "Song for Myla Goldberg" was written years earlier, after Colin Meloy had been a media escort for the novelist Myla Goldberg during a tour following the publication of her first book, Bee Season.

<i>The Hazards of Love</i> 2009 studio album by The Decemberists

The Hazards of Love is the fifth album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released through Capitol Records and Rough Trade in 2009. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled The Hazards of Love. According to the band, frontman Colin Meloy had set out to write a song with the album's title, which eventually developed into an entire album. Becky Stark, Shara Nova, and Jim James provide guest vocals throughout the album, while Robyn Hitchcock makes a cameo guitar appearance on "An Interlude".

<i>Killingsworth</i> (album) Album by The Minus 5

Killingsworth is the eighth studio album by The Minus 5, released by Yep Roc Records in 2009. The album was a collaboration with the Portland, Oregon,-based indie rock band The Decemberists.

<i>All About a Feeling</i> 1973 studio album by Donna Fargo

All About a Feeling is the third studio album released by American country artist Donna Fargo. The album was released in October 1973 on Dot Records and was produced by Fargo's husband and manager Stan Silver. It was Donna Fargo's second studio released in 1973 and spawned two Top 10 hits on the Billboard country chart between 1973 and 1974. It was Fargo's first studio album not to chart among the Billboard 200 albums list.

<i>The King Is Dead</i> (album) 2011 studio album by The Decemberists

The King Is Dead is the sixth studio album by The Decemberists, released on Capitol Records on January 14, 2011. Described as the "most pastoral, rustic record they've ever made" by Douglas Wolk of Rolling Stone, the album reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart for the week ending February 5, 2011. The song "This Is Why We Fight" reached number 19 on the U.S Alternative Songs Chart, while the song "Down by the Water" also charted in the United States. In November 2011, the band released an EP of album out-takes, entitled Long Live the King.

<i>Long Live the King</i> (EP) 2011 EP by The Decemberists

Long Live the King is an EP by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released on November 1, 2011, on Capitol. The release is composed of out-takes from their sixth studio album, The King Is Dead. The titles of both combine to create the traditional proclamation, "The king is dead, long live the king!"

<i>We All Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 04.11–08.11)</i> 2012 live album by The Decemberists

We All Raise Our Voices to the Air is a 2012 live album by the folk rock band The Decemberists. The album was recorded during the 2011 Popes of Pendarvia World Tour to promote the album The King Is Dead at venues across the United States. The album was released as a double Compact Disc and a triple vinyl LP set. The title comes from a line in the track "The Infanta", from the album Picaresque.

<i>What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World</i> 2015 studio album by The Decemberists

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is the seventh studio album from The Decemberists, released on January 20, 2015. The album's title comes from a line in the song "12/17/12", a reference to the date of Barack Obama's speech in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and lead singer Colin Meloy's conflicting feelings about the shooting and his happy personal life.

<i>Florasongs</i> 2015 EP by The Decemberists

Florasongs is an EP by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released on October 9, 2015, on Capitol Records. The release is composed of five out-takes from their seventh studio album, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Down by the Water (The Decemberists song)</span> 2010 single by The Decemberists

Down by the Water is a song on the American indie rock band The Decemberists' sixth album, The King is Dead. It was released as a single in 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "'I'll Be Your Girl' - The Decemberists". AllMusic . Retrieved June 21, 2018. The shorthand description of I'll Be Your Girl, the Decemberists' eighth album, is that it's the record where the band decide to ditch the past and engage with the modern world, layering their folk-rock with synthesizers and other contemporary accouterments.
  2. Kornhaber, Spencer (March 16, 2018). "The Decemberists' Shiny, Happy Protest Album". The Atlantic . Retrieved June 21, 2018. Seventeen years into the Portland rock eccentrics' career, Colin Meloy is writing more plainspoken lyrics than ever while his band accesses the joy of '80s synthpop.
  3. "Triple A Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  4. "I'll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists" via Metacritic.
  5. Rytlewski, Evan (March 19, 2018). "The Decemberists: I'll Be Your Girl". Pitchfork .
  6. Hermes, Will (16 March 2018). "Review: Decemberists Shake Up Artisanal Folk Rock on 'I'll Be Your Girl'". Rolling Stone .
  7. Cook-Wilson, Winston (January 17, 2018). "The Decemberists Announce New Album I'll Be Your Girl, Release "Severed"". Spin . Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  8. Trendell, Andrew (20 March 2018). "The Decemberists on life in Trump's America, and the trouble with being a Morrissey fan". NME . Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  9. "ARIA Chart Watch #465". auspOp. March 24, 2018. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  10. "Austriancharts.at – The Decemberists – I'll Be Your Girl" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  11. "Ultratop.be – The Decemberists – I'll Be Your Girl" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  12. "The Decemberists Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Decemberists – I'll Be Your Girl" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  16. Caulfield, Keith (March 25, 2018). "XXXTentacion's '?' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2018.