Words by Ceri Black, pics courtesy of Atlantic Records
Death Cab for Cutie’s 8th album Kintsugi is a break up record, there is no doubt about that.
It’s the band’s first album release since the departure of original member Chris Walla and marks frontman Ben Gibbard’s high profile divorce. The album title itself describes the Japanese art of fixing ceramics back together with precious metal; finding beauty in the broken.
DCfC have never been a band to shy away from a certain amount of sensitivity and melancholy but the highly personal feel to Gibbard’s song writing has propelled this album into being something truly beautiful.
Lyrics such as “My love why do you run?” in ‘Hold No Guns’ or “How could something so fair be so cruel?” in ‘Black Sun’ are straight from the heart and only confirm the sadness this whole album appears to be based upon.
Instrumentally, Kintsugi echoes Gibbard’s project band The Postal Service. There is a strong use of rhythmic synth and fantastical guitar riffs that force listeners to realise that DCfC are comfortable and strong in a sound that has now become their signature. ‘No Room in Frame’, for example, is a song that would be happy on any DCfC album.
There’s always a fear that a band so established could start slipping toward creating stadium filling, mass pleasing trash but Kintsugi proves that DCfC are on no such road.
In their 8th studio album, Death Cab for Cutie have a produced a sincere and emotive record that shows us all that being a grown up can sometimes get tough.
‘Little Wanderer’ – from Kintsugi, by Death Cab for Cutie
Kintsugi, Death Cab for Cutie’s 8th studio album, is out today – 30th March on Atlantic Records. For more on Death Cab for Cutie, including online purchase points, visit http://deathcabforcutie.com/
For more from Atlantic Records, visit http://www.atlanticrecords.com/
For more from Atlantic Records UK, visit http://atlanticrecords.co.uk/
