The Decemberists to bring ‘Hazard’ to the Byham

With any great idea, there comes a risk of exponential growth. As was the case with The Decemberist’s latest album The Hazards of Love.

The band’s fifth album had humble beginnings with songwriter and frontman Colin Meloy planning to write a single song with the same title of a 1964 Anne Briggs EP, but as he began to write, the one song snowballed into a full-blown rock opera and full album.

For a band tied to the word “literary” and known for songs with intricate plots of murder, love, rape, sinking ships and Japanese folklore, a rock opera seemed almost inevitable.

“I don’t know if it was inevitable, but it makes total sense,” Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk said. “The Crane Wife was just three songs, but this is a huge body of work.”

The Hazards of Love weaves the knotty tale of a young girl, Margaret, her shape-shifting lover William and their ill-fated romance that’s plagued by his magical queen mother and her bastardly child-killing co-conspirator the Rake.

“It’s really difficult because it’s not a concrete story. It’s more like the Cliff Notes of some other story out there.”

But Funk’s main concern isn’t really interpretation or plot in the album.

“It’s a bit frustrating. I don’t get as many beer breaks between songs as I’d like,” he said.

Dark plots are hardly uncharted territory for The Decemberists, whose characters usually meet dismal ends. Meloy can take responsibility for guiding more than 70 fictional characters to their deaths in his musical discography.

But fans new and old aren’t turned off by the somber stories. Rather, The Hazards of Love has sold more than 19,210 copies in its first week when it was released in March.

“I think people are cool with it. From the onset, it’s pretty much understood that this is fantasy,” Funk said.

Along with darker themes, The Decemberists tinged its previously folk sound with dramatically slicing electric guitars that ensnared the band into what it considers its metal-ish phase.

“We really assumed the role of another band for a bit, and it’s so fun to play,” Funk said. “But we all know that this isn’t the real Decemberists.

But that ability to take on different genres is a part of who we are as a band. So I really don’t think we’re suddenly going to continue our metal side.”

The Hazards of Love’s success further propelled The Decemberists from college radio staples to an emergingly mainstream band with a growing fan base.

“I think as an artist you want to reach as many people as possible, or else, you’d just stay at home. I think we used to sort of have this Pitchfork kind of image with tons of fans with black glasses and black messenger bags, so now we’re obviously really excited to be appealing to a more general population,” Funk said.

The Decemberists will bring its twisting tale, as well as a few promised covers, to the Byham Theater Downtown Friday, August 14, and show Pittsburgh the hazards of one d*** good show.