Yep, they worked w/John Congleton--credits I'm finding include St Vincent, Regina Spektor, Better Oblivian Community Center, Thrice & Manchester Orchestra https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-congleton-mn0000215209/credits
Really enjoyed that on first listen. So much music came out today but I'll be back to spin this a few more times today in a bit. I can tell after first listen though that I'll need this on wax.
Got a long drive this morning and I’ve avoided all the singles. Very excited by the reactions I’m seeing here. Can’t wait to put this on.
Side bar: I was listening to the new album on Spotify while I work, and then a song came on and I was like "fuckkkk this Death Cab song sounds so 80s, I love it!" so I went to "heart" it on Spotify and it turned out that the album had ended, and this song "Into" by a band called CASTLEBEAT started automatically, and now they're my new favorite band of the day. Haha I'm currently listening through the whole CASTLEBEAT album and loving every second of it.
WOW. I will admit that I was massively worried that their best work was behind them, especially after Walla left. I haven't felt this great about a DCFC album upon first listen since Narrow Stairs. This is beautiful. I can't wait for my vinyl to come.
The “listennnnnnnn” on “I Don’t Know How I Survive” feels like a nod to Vampire Weekend’s “Obvious Bicycle”
Not a big death cab fan normally, haven’t cared for anything since Plans really, but this is definitely grabbing me.
I thought their last one was pretty nice and it was the first album of theirs I liked since Plans. And this is much better than the last one, haha.
I like all of them but C&K, Kintsutgi and TYFT are def weaker than any of them prior IMO. This one is way better than those.
TYFT is an enjoyable listen, but I think I like the song Blue Bloods from The Blue EP better than anything from that entire album. This new album is spectacular. They really do sound reinvigorated here. I can't find the right way to say it, but musically this album is muscular and energetic in a way that I really was not expecting from them at this point. The first time I listened to this, after 10 straight killer songs in a row, I was dreading the closer "I'll Never Give Up On You" being kind of a bummer of an acoustic ballad type deal. I don't usually love those types of songs from these guys, and it's definitely not how I wanted this album to end. Needless to say, the second the song kicked in I felt like a fool haha. Also, I didn't listen to the song ahead of time, but I had read about the 'spoken word' track and was kinda dreading that song too. Ended up being an absolute highlight for me. What an album.