Death Cab for Cutie - Thank You for Today

Bandcamp Daily

Frontman Ben Gibbard exercises his lyrical prowess without restraint or fear; his bellicose brand of intimacy has gotten softer, more incisive, and less theatrical.

The Guardian 80

(Atlantic)

It’s almost exactly 20 years since Death Cab for Cutie released their first album, Something About Airplanes, on the tiny Barsuk label. The intervening years saw them sign to a major label, get nominated for Grammys and become poster boys for canvas-haversack-toting mopey emo kids everywhere. But nine albums in, and Ben Gibbard and co are no longer kids themselves, and their nostalgia has a decidedly autumnal feel.

Gibbard can recall being 22 and “Trying so hard to play it cool” (60 & Punk), and reflects that “Sometimes I’m overcome by every choice I couldn’t outrun” (Summer Years). The dilemmas that are faced are adult ones: “I don’t need you to be honest / Or to be faithful to the end / I just need you to be always a friend,” Gibbard sings on When We Drive.

Drowned In Sound 60

Though frontman Ben Gibbard drew much of the attention in their breakthrough years, guitarist and producer Chris Walla was perhaps equally influential in their success, before calling it a day on his time in the band in 2014. Consequentially, new album – and ninth outing – Thank You for Today is therefore Death Cab’s first outing without their man behind the curtain.

Like a Premier League manager who’s lost their star player on the morning of transfer deadline day, Gibbard has responded by investing heavily in reinforcements, bringing in not one, but two new signings to bolster the ranks: guitarist-cum-keyboardist Dave Depper and keyboardist-cum-guitarist Zac Rae. The results are as might be expected with such synth-heavy acquisitions – there’s a noticeable electronic focus to a number of tracks, not least the FM-ready ‘When We Drive’, which groans under the weight of sine waves and metronomic rhythms.

Synth-pop credentials are aspired to elsewhere through a guest spot for Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry on the anthemic ‘Northern Lights’, her stylish Caledonian soprano adding considerable flair to proceedings atop propulsive drivetime rhythms.

It’s not all electronic though – there’s rootsier fare on offer too, via lead single ‘Gold Rush’ which boasts a slide guitar stomp that’s more Mississippi Delta than Pacific Northwest. But as well-crafted a piece of musicianship and production as it is, it also lays bare contemporary Death Cab’s weaker elements – in trying to compensate for the absence of one of their key instrumental talents, Gibbard’s eye has been taken off the ball somewhat when it comes to the lyrics ("Digging for gold in my neighbourhood / where all the old buildings stood", just one of the couplet clangers on offer here. See also the nautical headscratcher: "You used to be such a delicate kid / A lonely fish in a sea full of squid"’)

Similarly off the mark is the production – the record’s glossy sheen coating nearly everything in sight, allowing few of the beautifully fragile arrangements that Gibbard’s voice is so perfectly suited to. The only real exception is impressive closer – and standout track – ’60 & Punk’, a cautionary tale of refusing to grow up, focused around beautifully wavering piano lines played in waltz timing. It’s an affecting three-and-a-half minutes that is one of the best things they’ve done in years, but sadly very much an exception here.

Nine albums in, Death Cab for Cutie are just about holding it together, but you have to wonder if the title ‘Thank You For Today’ belies nothing more than a grateful acknowledgement of continued existence.