Album Review

Thank You For Today is the latest album by Death Cab for Cutie. It’s their ninth studio album and was released on August 17, 2018. It was produced by Rich Costey who also produced their last album Kintsugi.

I’m one of those Death Cab fans that discovered them through the tv show The O.C. I know that discredits me to some people, but I’ll never apologize for my love of teen dramas lol. Transatlanticism was the first Death Cab album I really came to know, and I’m grateful for that because I probably wouldn’t have fallen so in love with them via any other album. Thank You For Today is the same kind of album for me. It’s not that I haven’t liked their other albums, but this is one that’s really got me swooning.

I’m not a technical music fan. I’m not analyzing Ben Gibbard’s voice or whether or not certain instruments are too overbearing or too underwhelming. I analyze music based on how it speaks to me–both in the sound and in the lyrics. One thing I like about this album is the mix of new sounding Death Cab along with songs that harken back to the sounds of their earlier albums. “Summer Years”, “Your Hurricane”, “Northern Lights”, and “Autumn Love” are all songs that echo the sound of the earlier albums. Maybe not in their entirety, but there are certain elements and rhythms in the songs that take me back. But there are also songs that sound like later Death Cab and maybe even a newer Death Cab– “I Dreamt We Spoke Again”, “Gold Rush”, and “60 & Punk”.

But what I probably love the most are the lyrics. Maybe because I’m nearly the same age as Ben Gibbard, these songs seem to speak to me. And I think this is why my love for Death Cab for Cutie has endured- because their journey has been my journey. Some of the songs on Thank You For Today feel like they were written just for me. And this is always why I love music. The right song has a way of making me feel like I’m not alone. On this album, it’s especially apparent in “Summer Years”: “And I wonder where you are tonight/ If the one you’re with was a compromise/ As we’re walking lines in parallel/ That will never meet and it’s just as well”  and in “Gold Rush”: “digging for gold in my neighborhood/ (Gold rush) for what they say is the greater good/ (Gold rush) but all I see is a long goodbye.”

Thank You For Today, Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album, definitely did not disappoint me. It’s yet another set of comforting songs that have made me feel less alone in this world. And I’m grateful for today and and all those yesterdays that have been filled with the sounds of Ben Gibbard’s songs.