Portland rockers The Decemberists' second major label release has taken a sharp contrast from its first.  On the newest album entitled Hazards of Love the band has decided to become storytellers, creating a continuous narrative composed of roughly 16 parts.  Hazards of Love was originally conceived as a stage musical with the help of Spring Awakening's stage director Michael Mayer.  However, Decemberists lead singer Colin Meloy crafted a musical that is conceptually too outrageous to be staged.

The narrative chronicles the journey of a woman named Margaret and her lover William and is full of fairy-tale elements including a shape-shifting animal and a forest queen.  Meloy is in a Portland studio now finishing the post-production work on the album.  Stay tuned for tracklisting and release date.