Roughly the story of a man who marries a woman who turns out to be a crane, Decemberists' latest The Crane Wife (Capitol Records), is a tragic Japanese folktale turned epic Americana-flavored rock-opera, rife with greed, abduction, rape and death. The album, already widely proclaimed a masterpiece, calls prog giants of the 1970s to mind with "The Island," a 13-minute murder ballad in three movements.

For their major-label debut, the Portland, Ore., quintet made a concerted effort to defy expectations. "There was a real strong sense among the band that we were not going to try to make a record that somebody would typically make for a major label," says frontman Colin Meloy. "We didn't want the fact that we had signed onto a major label change our approach or aesthetic. In some ways, I think it pushed us farther to the left, farther out of the comfortable Decemberists zone."

That comfortable Decemberists zone, a circus-folky spin on Neutral Milk Hotel and Belle and Sebastian, has carried the band from obscure comp-lit minstrelry to the top shelf of the new indie rock pantheon. Now with a major in their corner and an opera under their belts, the Decemberists' ambitious evolution enters a new chapter. Before you pick up The Crane Wife on October 3, enter the bold new world of the Decemberists today, only on mtvU.com.

Listen to the featured Album

Tracks
	01.	The Crane Wife
	02.	The Island, Come And See, The Landlord's Daughter, You'll Not Feel The Drowning
	03.	Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
	04.	O Valencia
	05.	The Perfect Crime
	06.	When The War Came
	07.	Shankill Butchers
	08.	Summersong
	09.	The Crane Wife 1 and 2
	10.	Sons and Daughters