The Decemberists will release a new double album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, on June 14th.
It was co-produced by frontman Colin Meloy and the band's frequent collaborator Tucker Martine, and it features contributions from The Shins’ James Mercer and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills.
It includes the current single "Burial Ground" and closes with a 19-minute epic called "Joan in the Garden." Meloy says "'Joan in the Garden' has been kicking around as an idea since the I’ll Be Your Girl sessions. I got into a Joan of Arc kick after reading Lydia Yuknavitch’s beautifully bat [crap] novel The Book of Joan. I wanted to make my own version of Joan -- but the song that came was as much about the creative process as it was about the actual woman, about angelic visitation and creative visitation and the hallucinogenic quality of both."
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