The Hazards of Love

The Hazards of Love is a rock opera, with all songs contributing to a unified narrative, similar to the use of recurring stories on the band’s previous album, The Crane Wife. The plot is a love story: a woman named Margaret (voiced by Becky Stark) falls in love with a shape-shifting boreal forest dweller named William (voiced by Colin Meloy). William’s mother, the jealous Forest Queen (voiced by Shara Nova), and the villainous Rake (also voiced by Meloy) bring conflict to the album’s story arc.

The plot is an elaboration of Child Ballad #216, Roud #91: “The Mother’s Malison” or “Clyde’s Water”.