Ben Gibbard Does Not Think the New Death Cab Album Will Be a Piece of Shit

It's been nearly two and a half years since our beloved local giants, Death Cab for Cutie, released their last full-length, Narrow Stairs, a solid record -- especially live (though I have to confess that, at least for me, it gets the least plays of any full-length release in the Death Cab catalog). Even with the release of The Open Door EP and Twilight single "Meet Me on the Equinox" (money talks) last year, my Death Cab withdrawal has been close to reaching a boiling point.

So it is good news for all DCFC watchers that Gibbard told Spin this week that the band's new full-length should be out in time for spring. And from the sound of the interview, it should be a pretty big departure from Narrow Stairs.

On the sound:

"It's not a guitar-based record. We've been into vintage keyboards and playing with that palette," he says, citing Brian Eno's Another Green World as a reference point. "We're not adding guitars because people will be expecting them... I'm so proud of this album that at this point I don't care if people don't like it."

On the departure from Narrow Stairs:

"This new record has turned out to be much more of a construction project," he says, adding that the band would build a song in the studio around one vocal or riff. "It makes for some very creative moments."

One of those creative moments resulted in "Codes and Keys," Death Cab's first song to include a string section in 12 years. "We had some really beautiful arrangements written for it," says Gibbard. "It's a standout track on the record. It's really aching and gorgeous. It's been really amazing to hear it come to life."

On Chris Walla being more involved than ever:

Walla also contributes more to the new album than ever before. "There are a few songs that Chris wrote all the music for," explains Gibbard. "I cut and pasted and wrote lyrics and arrangements for them. This is the first time that we've had multiple compositions that started with Chris's demos and not mine, which is exciting."

Let the anticipation begin.