Decemberists' new album: buy it

Music is a matter of personal taste, I know. And this one really suits my personal tastes: The Decemberists' new release, The King Is Dead. I've already listened to this so much that my pores are probably blasting it right back out at this point.

Of interest to many readers here, lead singer Colin Meloy has a son, Henry (Hank) Meloy, who has autism. And if you drop track 3, "Rise to Me," on whatever you use to play music these days, you'll find much in this song to breach your defenses if you're an autism parent. Maybe it breaches the defenses of parents of neurotypical children, but I've never been one of those, so I wouldn't know. Meloy has described writing this song about his son and his and his wife's challenges as autism parents. God, but it is beautiful.

I'd launch into music critic territory at this point, waxing on tracks about the brute work of granite miners as a metaphor for life's drudgery or waning about how I now can't get "the old main drag" refrain unwedged from its tracks in my brain, but...just listen for yourself. Like I said, music--what you like, what you hate--is a matter of personal taste. And in this case, it's very, very personal.