Pitchfork

Huzzah! The new Decemberists album has arrived! The Crane Wife (due out October 3 on Capitol) was delivered to the Pitchfork office encased in a satin pillowcase resting in the arms of a fair-haired princess riding a black stallion. And it isn't just any old promo CD, oh no. It's made of pure gold.

Once we sent the maiden and the horse away, we settled down with this here tracklist:

01 The Crane Wife 3
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 #2
06 When the War Came
07 Shankill Butchers
08 Summersong
09 The Crane Wife 1 & 2
10 Sons and Daughters

Singer/songwriter Laura Veirs duets with Colin Meloy on the Civil War ballad "Yankee Bayonet", Sun City Girls associate Eyvind Kang contributed violin parts, and co-producer Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie) "sang a bunch and did some keyboard-y bits throughout," according to Meloy.

Good ship Decemberists will set sail this October for a North American tour in support of the album, and we've got the itinerary all for you right here.

The Crane takes flight:

08-23 Seattle, WA - Woodland Park Zoo
08-26 Salem, OR - Oregon State Fair (Pet Aid 2006) *
10-17 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom #
10-18 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom #
10-19 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater #
10-21 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern #
10-22 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater #
10-24 Austin, TX - Stubb's #
10-25 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Ballroom #
10-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues #
10-27 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle #
10-29 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club #
10-30 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club #
10-31 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater #
11-01 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory #
11-03 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom $
11-04 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theater $
11-05 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis $
11-04 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus $
11-07 Pontiac, MI - Clutch Cargo $
11-09 Cleveland, OH - Agora Theater $
11-10 Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion $
11-11 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater $
11-12 Minneapolis, MI - First Avenue $
11-14 Denver, CO - Paramount Theater $
11-16 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater $
11-17 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater $
11-18 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom $

* with Violent Femmes, Cake
# with Lavender Diamond
$ with Alasdair Roberts