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As Neko Case did recently, Portland’s Colin Meloy has turned to an ancient folk tale for inspiration—with wondrous results. The Decemberists’ leader has made the story of a Japanese peasant and his magical bird into the epic title track of his band’s latest album. With other songs exploring themes of murder (the grisly “Shankhill Butchers”) and romance (the gorgeous “Yankee Bayonet,” which the hyper-literate Meloy calls a “Civil War-era ghost love story”) the collection amounts to a modest prog-folk masterpiece.  

Colin Meloy has always had a vivid imagination. When he was in Grade Two, he wrote a play called The Bloody Knight, about a ghost that haunts a forest by a medieval castle. “It was particularly gruesome,” recalls Meloy cheerfully. “The ghost ends up slaughtering all of the knights at the castle.” The play was staged at his elementary school in Portland, Oregon for an audience of students and teachers. “Thankfully,” adds Meloy, “I had a really supportive teacher who didn’t seem too bothered by all the violence. These days, I’m sure that sort of thing would be cause for some concern within the educational system.” Fortunately, Meloy later found another creative outlet for his wild stories: The...

The indie folk-rockers came to prominence when their last album, The King is Dead, topped the Billboard charts. Known for literate, historically based songs, the band comes by its bookishness honestly: frontman Colin Meloy is the author of young fantasy novels, all illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis. Now on tour with a stop in Toronto Mar. 30, the Decemberists keep up their storytelling ways on their seventh album. Along with the hit “Make You Better,” it features the horn-fueled “Calvary Captain” and the string-laden “Philomena.” The album takes its title from the stark “12-17-12,” a response to the Newtown school shootings. “I was hit by a sense of helplessness,” explains Colin, “but al...