Awaiting Narrow Stairs

As anyone out there who holds Death Cab for Cutie in any sort of regard would know, their first album since their 2005 release, Plans, is set to release May 13.

The album, Narrow Stairs, has already had its first single released, "I will possess your heart". A lot of reviews have said that the long instrumental lead in is a turn off to most listeners, but in my opinion, its the best part of the song. The driving bass complimented by Ben Gibbard's sparing piano really caught my ear when I first heard it in the short video about the making of Narrow Stairs that DCFC had on the front page of their website for the last few months. So, I like the intro ... it's just the rest of the song that bothers me.

The melody of Gibbard's lyrics, if you admit there is one at all, is robotic at best. While I have only heard the song on YouTube videos and could probably use a few more listens, I don't even think the lyrics are that strong. Mind you, lyrics, thanks to Ben Gibbard, are Death Cab's strong point. But you can make your own judgments of "I Will Possess Your Heart", the video's at the bottom of this post.

Oh, and just one thing about the video itself. I really like everything with the girl traveling and what not, that looks pretty good. But as for the performance segment? The members of DCFC have more indie flare on and around them than I'm willing to take in one video. The scarves, snow caps, the ever-present dummy glasses, ok, but why must they be playing in a walk in freezer? Is there any reason why we need to see their breath? And I have a lot of respect for Ben Gibbard as a songwriter, but when he goes around wearing a snow cap with a brim on it, well it makes me question how much respect I can really have for him.

I'm looking very forward to the release of Narrow Stairs. I'm hoping to hear more Transatlanticism than Plans, though the latter has some good songs too. The band has said in interviews that the recording process changed for them on the new record. As opposed to their usual, very calculated approach to how songs should sound and will be recorded, they apparently went into the studio without much more than Gibbard's songs written on Big Sur. "I Will Possess Your Heart" is said to be a good example of their approach this time around, they sort of let all the parts come together before the song really hits, at which point it dies out. Hopefully this single is the band giving its fans the bad news first.

Anyway, here's the official video for "I Will Possess Your Heart", you decide if the song's any good or if the band's extensive indie garb is too much.