The Decemberists [ tickets ] have released "The Rake's Song" as a free downloadat the group's website according to a press release.

The song is from the Portland-based quintet's fifth full-length album, "The Hazards of Love," which is set for a March 24 release.

According to a statement issued by the band, the album, which was inspired by the British folk revival of the 1960s, is a 17-song suite that should be listened to from start to finish. The songs reportedly were written to tell the story of a woman who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal, her lover, a forest queen and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake.

Guest appearing as various "characters" and in "supporting roles" include My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark, My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden, the Spinanes' Rebecca Gates and Robyn Hitchcock.

The Decemberists will tour this spring, playing "The Hazards of Love" in its entirety for the first half of the show, and older material for the remainder of the evening. Tour dates will be announced soon.