Usually the time difference doesn’t really work in Australia’s favour. We get up and watch the World Cup at 3:30AM, we get up before the roosters for Barack Obama’s inauguration and put the kettle on.

But TODAY at the reasonable late afternoon hour of 4pm (Eastern time), we can all dial up the National Public Radio (NPR) site to hear The Decemberists debut their album The Hazards of Love live and in its entirety at South By Southwest. Here’s a taste of what you’re in for.

And, the album deserves a full-play because it’s a story unto itself:

The Hazards of Love tells the woodland melodrama of a character named Margaret — voiced by Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, alternately — who encounters such obstacles as a lecherous villain, forest royalty and rapacious, shape-shifting fauna. As for the music itself, Meloy draws heavily from British folk, but also adds plenty of synthesizers and hard rock verging on heavy metal.

Gotta love the winning entry to the Texan-themed concert poster design contest. Complete with Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird.

The album is out now: