The four-year break since Oregon indie-folk types the Decemberists topped the US album charts with The King Is Dead has clearly been well spent. While retaining the warmth and intelligence that has served them so well thus far, What a Terrible World… finds the five-piece at their most wide-ranging, from the sea shanty-influenced Better Not Wake the Baby and the 50s harmonies of Philomena to the mournful, harmonica-led 12/17/12, a reflection on the Newtown school shootings. Best of all is the joyful pop of Cavalry Captain, as irrepressible as it is infectious. A fine return.
