Death Cab for Cutie are back and they are better than ever. After four years, the Washington American indie band released another album. Post-pandemic and into a new decade, we have new songs and tales to listen to.
The band’s beginnings are classic, starting off as university friends in their home base in Bellingham, Washington. Although starting as Ben Gibbard’s solo project, Death Cab for Cutie was born from a need to make music collectively. Friends or roommates, their shared interest was music. Their debut album Something About Airplanes was released in 1998, a year after assembling.
We can recognise the band’s sound by their distinctive indie, pop and rock features. The new album Asphalt Meadows is no stranger to this. From a first listen, it’s clear that this is their sound. Death Cab’s indie roots still run strong even almost two and a half decades after releasing music.
However, the album strays more towards a grungier sound compared to previous releases. Perhaps as a reflection of the past few years, some of the lyrics and vocals appear more pronounced as a spoken discussion rather than singing. The album discusses themes of love as always, life, and Death Cab for Cutie’s journey so far. From ‘I Don’t Know How I Survive’, the words: “These nights I don’t know how I survive” is both a play on romantic song writing but also an expression of the difficulties of the past years for the band.
Other overarching themes in the album are nature, in tune with the album title, and longing. From the first to the last song, as a listener we experience a story of trying to navigate an unrequited love that is no longer in our reach. ‘I’ll Never Give Up On You’ completes the album by reinforcing the message of longing; the ultimate message that love never ends as a true romantic would believe.
The second song to feature in the album ‘Roman Candles’ talks about the bitterness of life with roman candles being a metaphor for the difficulties that we approach. Life is explosive like fireworks. The title track ‘Asphalt Meadows’ is more upbeat melody wise. Once again it is another song describing a romance. The lyrics “I was a snake under your flower” keep in line with the song title with the theme of nature intertwined and an image of romance.
‘Rand McNally’ the following song continues the themes of longing and this specific track paints a picture of attempting to push against inevitable change with love. ‘Here to Forever’ follows a similar message to the previous song as seen in “I wanna feel the pressure”. Perhaps this track depicts the enjoyment in the challenge more than the distress in a failing love.
‘Foxglove Through The Clearcut’ sounds more like commentary, like we’re being spoken to instead of listening to a song. The song sends a message of life lessons “no one seems interested in fixing what they’ve broken”, a lesson to the listener. ‘Pepper’ is an ode to The Beatles, and it is another love song continuing the theme of longing.
‘I Miss Strangers’ is similar to the first song of the album with the theme of absence and longing. It references times of isolation and distance in our recent years. ‘Wheat Like Waves’ as seen in the song title discusses themes of nature, navigating life and being naïve in life. Finally, ‘Fragments From the Decade’ is the penultimate song discussing the nature of change.
A lot has happened since for the band with the release of the tenth album, with band members departing, the world, and a change to their musical interests. However, this album marks a return to the Death Cab for Cutie that we all know and recognise. The drums are back, and the striking percussion really brings the album alive.
Words by Lucy Vo
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