Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings Live!
The title of this album from the Decemberists singer may evoke images of lounge singers in the vein of Perry Como or Tony Bennett, with its referencing of the -insert perma-tanned, tuxedo wearing, mob-affiliated songster of choice here - Sings tradition; which was prevalent way back when our lord was a lad. However, a quick glance at the cover (a cartoon of the bespectacled Meloy clutching an acoustic guitar) suggests that Meloy’s take on the Sings album will be a somewhat different jam from those favoured by the likes of Messrs Como and Bennett.
“Colin Meloy Sings Live!” does exactly what it says on the tin, it is a fourteen song collection of numbers recorded during Meloy’s US solo tour of 2006. As with many live acoustic albums; it is a warm and intimate document of a singer-songwriter armed only with an acoustic guitar, his songs and his own wry wit and onstage banter delivering his songbook to a revering and captivated audience.
The set opens with the little known track ‘Devil’s Elbow’ a relic from Meloy’s days in Tarkio; a withdrawn and introspective number, it provides a reflective opening and offers an interesting retrospective of Meloy’s pre-Decemberists career. After these somewhat inauspicious beginnings; the set begins in earnest with a rousing rendition of ‘We both go down together’, which is delivered with gusto and panache from the warbling Meloy and is lapped up by the crowd. The set sees Meloy “leading his audience on a spellbinding walk through his oeuvre thus far” and is therefore likely to appeal to existing fans, whilst also providing a stripped-down overview of Meloy’s song writing career to date for those unfamiliar with his work. Meloy is on laid-back form throughout indulging in frequent and idle inter-song banter with the crowd and ‘treating’ them to the premiere of “the worst song I ever wrote” in the form of ‘Dracula’s Daughter’ which is perhaps a little too comfortable and trite for comfort. Interspersed between stripped-down takes on the finer moments of the Decemberists career (‘The Engine Driver’ and ‘Here I dreamt I was an architect’), Meloy takes time introduce both new material (in the form of the sublime ‘Wonder’) and to pay tribute to some of his heroes. The Colin Meloy sings concept began with a couple of E.P’s which were available only on-tour, these releases featured Meloy covering tracks by Morrissey and Shirley Collins; and snippets of both are featured here. Meloy’s take on ‘Barbara Allen’ is inspired by the arrangement of the trad-folk song adopted by Collins, whilst The Smiths ‘Ask’ is woven into Meloy’s set as a medley.
This is a likeable live-set from a clearly talented songwriter. The reverence afforded to Meloy from the crowd is demonstrative of the regard in which he is held by fans of The Decemberists. Whilst the inter-song banter and droll self-deprecation becomes a little wearisome at points; as a whole the album is a well-recorded package that will fundamentally be of interest to existing fans.