This past week I came across the new song from indie folk rock band The Decemberists, “Make You Better”, the lead single from their seventh studio album titled What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, which will be released on January 20, 2015.

The Decemberists is fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Colin Meloy and – like many of the bands I like – features multi-instrumentalist band members who are accomplished in everything from pianos to guitars to Hammond organs, accordions and harmonicas.

The band’s 2005 Picaresque album was a favourite during my formative years in New Zealand and features “The Engine Driver”, a song I love to this day because of the poetic nature of the lyrics and its the Smiths’-esque sounds. Some of the most memorable lines include “I’ve written pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones.”

However, I stopped keeping up with the band after it started experimenting with different types of music and diverged from the sounds of Picaresque. Now a decade later, “Make You Better” seems to signal a return to their roots, and needless to say, I love it and I’m looking forward to listening to the entire album once it hits the shelves next year.