Summer nights soundtrack

We’ve reached that part of summer where the nights are getting longer and slowly cooling down. I’ve always been fond of evenings on the patio or in the backyard, and there are some songs that sound even better with a cicada accompaniment. Here are a few albums I've added to my summer nights soundtrack that will surely stay in rotation through fall. 

As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again by The Decemberists

Indie-folk rockers The Decemberists released their ninth album in June, six years after their last release, I'll Be Your Girl. I have been a longtime listener and fan of this Portland-based band. Their newest album is a great example of their genre-bending sound through the years. Many of these songs almost sound like a deep cut from each era of the band, just more polished thanks to The Decemberists' 20+ years perfecting their sound. Once again, band leader (and author) Colin Meloy's wife, artist (and author/illustrator) created the album's artwork.

The album starts with their newer sound – a little surfy, a little folky – in the opening track Burial Ground. By the second track, classic Decemberists’ storytelling has begun, making Oh No! a good blend of new and old sound from the band. You'll find a good mix of atmospheric tales, twang, funk and rock, and of course a few cute love songs on this album. 

Inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch's dystopian novel The Book of Joan the almost 20-minute song Joan in the Garden closes out the album. It's a progressive rock ballad that builds slowly, starting gently and becoming an atmospheric, guitar riffing rock epic. Here are a few lyrics from this tune:

Just another tinsel ornament
Another troubled sky
We are folded in the firmament
Catch us as we fly

I don't remember what I ought to be
I only know what's right
I'm suspended from the orrery
Bursting into light

And If you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Hosanna, hosanna

Gathering by Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter, a singer-songwriter (and author) from Idaho, is another musician I've listened to for years. His ninth album,  Gathering, is solid American folk with toe-tapping tunes, charming love songs and dramatic narratives. Like The Decemberists' ninth release, this album is a great showcase of Ritter's work. It displays the range of his sound and his talent for clever lyrics and beautiful songs. Gathering is full of country-leaning rock songs, making this a fun album to listen to with friends. 

Partway through the album is the emotional and introspective song When Will I Be Changed featuring The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir. A nice mix of honky-tonk dance, and slower ballads take us to the instrumental Interlude. This track eases us out of the aptly-named Dreams and the tender Myrna Loy to give us one last handful of cheeky foot-stompers. Finishing off the album with the slow and sweet love song Strangers feels like the perfect dessert to an album I thoroughly enjoyed.

            You and I danced closer than our shadows to the ground

            Closer than our laughter to the sound

            You knew me better then than I even know me now

            And I can’t believe that we were ever strangers

Critterland by Willi Carlisle

For less toe-tapping and more dark melodies, check out Arkansas-based (and Kansas-native) Willi Carlisle's third album, Critterland. Carlisle creates beautiful literary songs that read more like melancholic, troubled memoirs. While the songs are not always autobiographical, the emotion in these songs is sincere. With a few simple instruments on each track, Carlisle’s lyrics and voice shine. The entire album is a beautiful, progressive example of modern American folk music.

Title track Critterland is the most upbeat tune. The rest of the album is mostly somber, with tales of the Midwest working class. Carlisle has said he always knew he’d be a folk singer, so he chose to get an MFA in poetry in Arkansas to improve his songwriting and his banjo playing. 

From the needle-prickin' mothers who were never taught to read
To the barefoot hungry soldiers that enlisted at sixteen
Oh in my dumb debasement, I still find great relief
That on the lam and on the dole they counted themselves free

I have hustled towards the overpass to sleep there in the rain
I have settled with my pocketknife and carved out all their names
If the Great Depression made us, there is no need to despair
I won't waste a single moment of the work that brought me here

Much of the album is like listening to a collection of short stories, and like Josh Ritter and Colin Meloy, I believe in the future we will have more than just CDs from Willi Carlisle in our catalog.