The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

After the sprawling rock opera of The Hazards of Love, The Decemberists stripped things back for The King Is Dead, a 2011 album of rootsy, harmonica-blown songs that sounds like a sunny Pacific Northwest afternoon.

Colin Meloy and the band traded epic concepts for compact, country-tinged folk rock, recording largely in a barn on an Oregon farm with producer Tucker Martine. The influences are worn proudly, from Neil Young's harmonica to early R.E.M.'s jangle, and the guest list fits the brief: Gillian Welch adds harmony vocals across much of the album, while R.E.M.'s Peter Buck brings his unmistakable guitar to a few tracks.

"Don't Carry It All" opens with a stomping, communal chorus about shared burdens, and "Down by the Water" rides a chiming riff and a big harmonica hook. "Calamity Song" is a brisk, jangly rush that sounds like a lost early R.E.M. outtake, and "June Hymn" settles into a gentle, pastoral beauty. The writing stays sharp and literate, but the songs are warmer and more direct than anything the band had made before.

It became one of their best-loved albums, and it is easy to hear why. This is a record for long drives and slow mornings, with tunes that stick for days.