What kind of accent is Colin Meloy of The Decemberists trying to imitate?

[Argent Towers]

Popular band The Decemberists has a lead singer, Colin Meloy, who affects an extremely strange singing voice. It is like nothing I've heard before. It's sort of like a combination of an English accent with someone's imitation of a New York Jew. Extremely nasal, and puts some really weird ending sounds on certain words, like "familiar" which he pronounces as "familioye". The guy is from Portland, Oregon, so this is clearly not a learned accent. It seems obvious that he is trying to sound like something else - so what is it exactly?

[enalzi]

http://www.believermag.com/issues/20...nterview_meloy

BLVR: Some detect an English accent in your vocal delivery at times. I think your voice may hint at Victorian or proper English accents when it fits the song. Have you ever felt self-conscious about this?

CM: Bob Pollard defends his quasi-British inflection by saying that was how he learned to sing, by mimicking his Beatles and Kinks records. I agree, but I would take it a bit further. Whereas country music is an intrinsically American tradition, I feel that pop music as we know it is a British one. So just as there are certain melodies and chord progressions that help define country music as country music and pop music as pop music, so are there vocal inflections that aid in that definition. The Stones, Elvis Costello, and the Pogues are a just a few artists who have adapted their vocal inflection to add dimension to their music in relation to the style in which they were playing. It’s all about creating a character. I honestly don’t do it intentionally—I feel like it’s the songs that demand a stylized delivery.

Also, he's originally from Montana, so it's a midwest + northwest + fake British accent.

[enalzi]

Now that I think of it, there's a little bit of Michael Stipe thrown in there as well. Seriously, listen to "We Both Go Down Together" and "Losing My Religion" back to back.

[ErinPuff]

Originally Posted by enalzi

Seriously, listen to "We Both Go Down Together" and "Losing My Religion" back to back.

A couple years ago, I put the first 30 seconds of those songs together.

[toadspittle]

Sheesh. I always thought he was from Ireland.

[Push You Down]

I'm also from Montana and I can hear it in his speaking and singing voice.