Indie rock mainstays Death Cab For Cutie have announced details of their eleventh studio album I Built You A Tower, set for release on 5th June. The announcement arrives alongside the album’s first single, Riptides, and news of a UK and European tour scheduled for September.
Death Cab For Cutie
Produced and engineered by John Congleton, the new album was assembled during an intense three-week recording period. Sessions took place at Animal Rites studio in Los Angeles as well as at the band members’ home studios across Seattle, Bellingham, Los Angeles and Portland. The record marks a notable shift for the band, signalling a return to independent roots after two decades within the major label system.
To accompany the announcement, the band have unveiled the propulsive first single Riptides, which arrives with a music video directed by Jason Lester. Speaking about the track, frontman Ben Gibbard explained that the song reflects the emotional dissonance of grappling with personal struggles while the wider world experiences profound upheaval.
“Riptides is about the challenge of dealing with personal struggles as the world around us experiences tragedy and loss on an unfathomable scale,” Gibbard said. “When these two elements intertwine themselves in our psyches, it feels utterly paralysing.”
The album follows a significant period for the band, who recently completed extensive anniversary tours celebrating the 20th anniversaries of their landmark albums Transatlanticism and Plans. Those performances proved instrumental in shaping the new material, reconnecting the group with the stripped-back emotional core that defined their early work.
During the same period, Gibbard was performing nightly double-sets fronting both Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service on arena stages, while navigating significant personal upheaval away from the spotlight. The album’s title emerged from that experience, with the “tower” symbolising a psychological space to store grief and loss while attempting to move forward.
Rather than leaning on nostalgia, the band describe I Built You A Tower as a reaffirmation of the ethos that has driven their three-decade career. With the core lineup of Gibbard, bassist Nick Harmer, drummer Jason McGerr and multi-instrumentalists Dave Depper and Zac Rae, the record captures the energy of five musicians working closely together in the room.
The band will take the new material on the road later this year, following a summer run of North American dates with an autumn UK and European tour.
Death Cab For Cutie @ Scala
UK & Ireland Tour Dates:
SEPTEMBER
16th – Dublin, 3Olympia Theatre
19th – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
20th – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
21st – Gateshead, The Glasshouse
23rd – Bristol, The Prospect Building
25th – London, Troxy
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