Death Cab for Cutie’s ninth studio album, “Thank You for Today,” should be recognized by its rare and relatable indie-pop songwriting by vocalist, Benjamin Gibbard as he expresses nostalgia, loss and new beginnings.
Death Cab for Cutie is known for their masterful 2003 fourth album, “Transatlanticism,” with heartwarming melodies on coming-of-age, long distance romances and finding ones self.
However as 15 years have passed since “Transatlanticsim“ was released, things have changed for the band.
After a painful divorce with Zooey Deschanel and the departure of long-time member and producer Chris Wala, Gibbard and the gang are getting used to the fact that adulthood comes with heartbreak and drifting apart.
Tracks such as “I Dreamt We Spoke Again“ and “Summer Years“, Gibbard reminisces on the good times and even feels as if he’s talking to a ghost when he speaks about his past. “I dreamt we spoke again/ It’d been so long/ Your voice was like a ghost/ In my head/ Only in, yes, only in a dream.”
The infectious hit single, “Gold Rush“, is about returning to one’s hometown and no longer recognizing what it used to be due to gentrification.
“Now that our haunts have taken flight,” Gibbard sings, “And been replaced with construction sites/ Oh, how I feel like a stranger here/ Searching for something that’s disappeared.”
Gibbard later ends the song with the chorus, “Please don’t change/ Stay the same,” as he mourns his memories of his hometown Seattle, Washington.
No one likes change, especially when it’s someone you admired. “Your Hurricane“ specifies that as Gibbard sings, “Cause every time there’s a knock on my door/ I fall to my hands and knees on the floor/ Cause when your wreckage washes up on my shore/ You’re not like before.”
“When We Drive,” “Autumn Loves,” and “Northern Lights“ offers a sense of escapism of ordinary life and just makes the listener jump into a car and drive.
“You Moved Away“ and “Near/Far“ emphasizes back to the band’s long distance relationships themed songs like, “Transatlanticism.”
In “You Moved Away,” Gibbard sings about a loved one that is ready to move on, but clearly, he’s not okay with it.
“When you moved away/ All of your friends got drunk and one by one begged you to stay/ When you moved away/ They all felt irrationally betrayed.”
Death Cab closes the album with “60 & Punk” offering a sense of nostalgia when a musician reaches old age: “There’s nothing elegant in being drunk/ It’s nothing righteous being sixty and a punk/ But when you’re looking in the mirror do you see/ That kid you used to be?”
Overall, “Thank You for Today” offers touching lyrics by Gibbard’s soft, pleasant voice and the band’s comforting melancholic instruments that can make anyone permanently stuck in their nostalgia feels.
