Death Cab For Cutie: I Built You A Tower
With ‘I Built You A Tower’, Death Cab For Cutie returns to independent-label territory for the first time in more than two decades. Released via ANTI-, the band's eleventh album feels like a fitting homecoming, reconnecting with the adventurous spirit and emotional immediacy that defined their early work.
As is often the case, their mainstream success has eclipsed Death Cab For Cutie’s early work for the average listener. Any millennial who was even remotely tapped into the alternative music scene in the mid-2000s would be able to sing along to ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ and maybe a few other cuts from their 2005 major-label breakthrough album, ‘Plans’. While that album polished their sound with a radio-ready pop sheen, their prior records for beloved indie label Barsuk Records were decidedly more rough around the edges. Death Cab’s roots lie in the Midwest emo scene, utilising its signature twinkly guitar leads and odd time signatures, but combining those with an elevated sense of lyricism and composition that set them apart from many of their contemporaries.
After a nearly two-decade run on Atlantic Records, Death Cab For Cutie are returning to their independent beginnings in collaboration with ANTI-. But it is not only their label ties that are harking back to their early days; on their 11th album, ‘I Built You A Tower’, the band reunites with producer John Congleton to craft a raw, experimental and truly refreshing set of songs centred around frontman Ben Gibbard’s divorce (a theme that he also used as inspiration for 2015’s ‘Kintsugi’ following his split with actress and singer Zooey Deschanel). The album’s opener, ‘Full of Stars’, is a slow-burning ballad in 3/4 time that leads into the single ‘Punching the Flowers’, which transitions effortlessly between noisy post-punk verses, gorgeous tap-guitar choruses and a dreamy, reverb-drenched bridge.
On the whole, ‘I Built You A Tower’ is marked by massive drums and crushing bass tones that undercut some genuinely beautiful guitar melodies and Gibbard’s instantly recognisable alto vocals. There are some surprises throughout the album, such as the grungy 5/4 of ‘Envy the Birds’, the Casiotone percussion in the verses of ‘Stone Over Water’, and the arpeggiated synths of ‘Trap Door’, which are almost reminiscent of The Postal Service (Gibbard’s one-off collaboration with IDM artist Dntel). The clear standout of the album, though, is ‘How Heavenly A State’, a gothy punk track injected with equal parts noise and beauty that sounds like a mix of Morrissey and McLusky. This may well be the best song Death Cab For Cutie has released since the eight-minute post-rock epic ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ from 2008’s ‘Narrow Stairs’.
Another shocker with ‘I Built You A Tower’ is its relative brevity. Only one song breaches the four-minute mark, and the whole 11-song set clocks in at under 40 minutes. Though Death Cab For Cutie is no stranger to longer, more expansive songs that take their time to unfold, each track on ‘I Built You A Tower’ feels as though it was written with laser focus; every note and lyric perfectly planned for maximum impact. Even the moments where the album slows down and offers the music some space to breathe feel purposeful and calculated, making for a cohesive and poignant listen. Longtime fans of the band (even those who might have been lost on albums like the polarising but excellent ‘Codes and Keys’ or the somewhat disappointing ‘Thank You For Today’) are likely to be pleased with this return to form, and new fans are in for a treat as they delve into the rich back catalogue of one of emo’s biggest success stories.