Description
Death Cab for Cutie cement their place in the indie rock pantheon on Asphalt Meadows while also producing music deserving of consideration with some of their best early work.
With the release of their tenth studio album, the band hailing from Bellingham, Washington, powerfully make a case for their continued relevance in their second decade of output with a record that grapples with anxiety and dread, unreadable maps, being seduced by celluloid ghosts, and the desire for ultimate meaning. All of this heaviness is wrapped in an expertly produced and superbly performed buffet of pop hooks, upbeat indie rock, and carefully orchestrated loops and guitar distortions that create a dissonance that renders the listener acutely aware but never ultimately despondent.
It expands and deepens their signature sound without abandoning it. Both lyrically and musically, this is mid-life work, a hard-won maturity that is honest about failure while holding the door open for novelty and hope. Over their career, Death Cab for Cutie’s output has made a case for pop as a medium for existentially heavy themes.
