There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
(Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”)
Looking for a glimmer of light in the midst of a difficult time. It is from this premise that “I Built You A Tower”, Death Cab For Cutie's eleventh album, gradually took shape. First album by Anti-, after twenty-two years of collaboration with major labels Atlantic, the new chapter of the creature led by Benjamin Gibbard officially marks a return to the independent circuit. The work starts from the end of the marriage of frontmanresulting in the need to pick up the pieces and put your present back together. In fact, it is not uncommon for music to play a fundamental role in a healing process, both for those who enjoy it as a listener and for those who decide to compose (equipped with something that could become perfect fuel), and in this case in terms of sound, we chose to take a look towards the group's beginnings.
In the role of producer ed engineer John Congleton also stands out, now a guarantee when it comes to indie-rock and indie-pop, just think of names like Angel Olsen, St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, or sophomore by Friko released recently, again by him.
The curtain gradually rises on the fears expressed by the rhythmic pace of piano and guitar of “Full Of Stars”, on whose notes the fragile attempts to save a relationship without succeeding are cradled, a perfect antechamber to the next excellent moment offered by the spirited “Punching The Flowers”. From the introductory verses of the latter, accompanied by a mood claustrophobic expertly served by drum turns and bassline ironclad, we find a first reference to the circle depicted on the cover, where the protagonist continues to wander with no way out and his words end up hurting those who were trying to make him feel better.
Words were sharpened like axes
And he swung them blindly around
With no regard for the dangers
And slashed her to the ground
The veiledly dark pop of “Pep Talk”, illuminated by glimmers of guitar, tambourine and, in the second part, veins of synth, tells of the effort to stay in balance when all the colors seem to blend into a pitch black darkness, continuing the basting of the architecture of pain with the bittersweet “I Built You A Tower (A)”. In this first part of title trackcharacterized by a small bridge with an orchestral flavour, the theme of the “circular prison” already encountered in “Punching The Flowers” returns, where this time the memory and memories of a person who the protagonist would have wanted to keep to himself forever are locked up.
A sudden desire for peace and silence takes over together with the desire to soar into the sky (to escape yet another argument) expressed by riff pressing of “Envy The Birds”, with a view to rethinking the word which could even recall the one treated several times by Jean-Luc Godard in his works, in particular in “Adieu au langage” (2014) and in the famous dialogue between Nanà, a character played by Anna Karina, and the existentialist philosopher Brice Parain in “Vivre sa vie” (1962).
You catch your breath with the rocking of the placid ballad “Stone Over Water”, just in time to clash with the post-punk revival airs conferred by the solid rhythms and frenetic changes of pace of “How Heavenly A State”, whose lyrics draw inspiration from some dreams Gibbard had, in which a friend of his who committed suicide several years earlier appeared.
Leading the way towards the closing are the flickers and chimes of the piano on the alt-pop ballad “Trap Door”, the bass in evidence on “Riptides”, and “The Flavor Of Metal”, which openly cites the search for light in Leonard Cohen's “Anthem”, but with a generous dose of added fear.
The conclusion is left to “I Built You A Tower (B)”, which takes part of the verses of track A in key interpoliana; here the previously feared impossibility of thinking about someone else crumbles, fading under the weight of the tiredness of dwelling on the past. Accomplices a songwriting more inspired and a concept in focus, with “I Built You A Tower” Death Cab For Cutie raise their heads again, both in terms of personal events, in particular for Gibbard, and musically, after a series of less successful episodes.
07/15/2026
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
