Ever since their first album in the late 1990’s, Death Cab For Cutie has been tugging at our heartstrings. Early albums were all about finding yourself and falling in love, later albums discussed heartbreak as frontman Ben Gibbard found himself at the midst of a divorce. Now several years later, recent Death Cab music has seemed to be more introspective.
Thank You for Today is Death Cab’s ninth album, officially to be released later this week. There are 10 tracks, making the record around 40 minutes. This album seems to be different than the others, with the theme being not just personal, but political as well.
The bands most recent single, “Gold Rush,” is the third track on Thank You for Today, is all about watching the neighbourhood you once knew and loved get changed and replaced by gentrification: “”Now that our haunts have taken flight / And been replaced with construction sites / Oh, how I feel like a stranger here / Searching for something that’s disappeared.”
Later tracks, such as “60 & Punk,” discuss aging: “It’s nothing righteous being 60 and punk / But when you’re looking in the mirror do you see / The kid that you used to be?”
Overall, Thank You for Today illustrates the ever-changing climate. It shows that even while you’re grieving over heartbreak, time keeps on moving, and the life you once knew has become completely different.
Listen to the full album stream on NPR here.
