The Decemberists Release First New Song in Two Years

The Decemberists have released "The Better Part of Bravery," their first new song in two years. The track follows the folk group's 2024 LP, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, and will play over the end credits of Wildwood, the upcoming animated adaptation of Colin Meloy's 2011 novel.

The pairing of band and film is a natural one: Meloy, the Decemberists' frontman, wrote the novel on which the movie is based. His band now supplies the music that sends the audience out of the story he created.

Who is saying what?

Meloy addressed the release in a statement.

"Wildwood has been part of my life for many years, and seeing the story transformed like this has been an extraordinary experience," Meloy said. "Writing the song for the end credits gave me a chance to return to the world of Wildwood in a different way. There's something particularly meaningful about having music accompany the audience as they leave the forest and the story comes to a close."

His remarks frame the song as a return rather than a departure — a songwriter revisiting a fictional world he first built in prose more than a decade ago.

What is Wildwood?

Travis Knight directs the animated film, which reaches theaters on October 23. The voice cast includes:

• Peyton Elizabeth Lee
• Jacob Tremblay
• Carey Mulligan
• Mahershala Ali
• Angela Bassett
• Tom Waits
• Richard E. Grant

The film adapts Meloy's 2011 novel of the same name, illustrated in its original book form by Carson Ellis, who is not named in the announcement of the film's music release.

Where does this leave the Decemberists?

"The Better Part of Bravery" marks the band's first new recorded material since As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again arrived in 2024. That two-year gap now ends not with a standalone single or a new album announcement, but with a piece of film music tied to Meloy's own literary property.

For a group long known for narrative-driven songwriting, closing a film adapted from its lead singer's novel is a fitting next move. Whether the song points toward further Decemberists output remains to be seen; for now, it exists as a bridge between Meloy's two crafts, and listeners can hear it ahead of the film's October 23 theatrical release.