See the Decemberists Showcase New Album Tracks for ‘Saturday Sessions’

A week after the release of the Decemberists’ first album in six years, the long-running Portland-based band visited CBS Mornings’ Saturday Sessions to play three tracks from As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again.

For the in-studio performance, Colin Meloy and company performed “Burial Ground,” “Long White Veil,” and “All I Want Is You” from their new double album, the Decemberists’ first LP since 2018’s I’ll Be Your Girl.

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Additionally, Meloy sat down with correspondent Jeff Glor to discuss As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again — the band’s longest album, helped by the fact there is a 19-minute song included within — as well as the Decemberists’ upcoming world tour.

As Meloy notes at the onset, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again also marks the longest gap between albums for the prolific band that once rifled off six LPs in a nine-year span in the early 2000s. “I feel like six years is a long time when we were a younger band. Now it feels like that’s appropriate,” the singer said.

Meloy added of his longtime songwriting strategy, “Humor is an important part of the music that I write, and so that’s always been the thing that I’ve been shooting for. I feel like there’s a way to make something deadly serious and really speaks to people’s souls, but also really funny.”

However, Meloy — who moonlights as a young adult writer alongside his illustrator wife Carson Ellis — admitted that he prefers writing novels to songs, despite the latter’s “instant reward.” “I’ve gravitated more to writing books, writing prose,” he said.

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