The Decemberists to sail into Orlando’s House of Blues

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy isn’t thrilled with the state of American politics these days. “I don’t think we’re climbing out,” said the singer from his Portland, Ore., home. “I think we may have dug deeper.”

The indie rock darlings are touring behind their album “I’ll Be Your Girl,” released in March. The tour will swing through The House of Blues in Disney Springs on Sunday, Sept. 23 (7 p.m., 1490 E. Lake Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, $38.50-$189, thebeacham.com).

Musically, the album represents something of a departure for The Decemberists’ 18-year career, whose catalog includes 2006’s “The Crane Wife” and “The Hazards of Love” from 2009. “Girl” includes several synthesizer-based compositions, reminiscent of New Wave-era production.

Meloy, 43, talked about the musical directions for this album and the influences that got the band here.

Question: What inspired the move to the New Wave sound of “I’ll Be Your Girl”?

Answer: It felt like the right time to explore and experiment with some different sounds. Synthesizers aren’t exactly

alien from anything we’ve done, just that we’ve skewed maybe more early Krautrock than New Wave in past records.

Q: Your music has always felt sort of goth-adjacent. Was this album more of a direct nod to your influences?

A: I grew up on Joy Division and The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I was never a goth kid but those bands loomed large for me. I feel like they’re already in our music, but on this record I feel like we had an opportunity to flex those.

Q: You have a very distinctive voice. How do you use that to emotional effect?

A: Growing up, I listened to bands whose front men and women had distinctive voices. When I hear music these days where it feels like the vocalist is emulating whoever is the cool or hot star of the era, that’s a turnoff for me. I feel like the vocalists I love discovered their voices in themselves. And while it might have been influenced by things around them, it certainly is a distillation of their own personality.