In their 25th year as a band, Ben Gibbard-led indie quintet Death Cab for Cutie announced that their 10th studio album, Asphalt Meadows, will arrive Sept. 16 via Atlantic Records. Though the band have yet to share a tracklist, they’ve returned with the album’s second track and lead single, “Roman Candles,” as well as a lyric video for the track designed by Juliet Bryant (Justin Vernon, Japanese Breakfast, Laura Jane Grace).
For the follow-up to 2018’s Thank You For Today, the band recruited producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Wallows) to bring their new material to life. As our first preview of the record, “Roman Candles” lives up to its name, erupting in a rush of concussive drums and staticky vocals before waves of synths and guitars bring the whole thing crashing down at the end of its two-minute runtime. “I used to feel everything like a flame / Now it’s a struggle just to feel anything / To feel anything / I watch the world from a window on a hill / Everyone moving as I’m standing still,” Gibbard sings, describing the monotony of life in a pandemic over the echoing explosion that feels like it’s burning through the music around him.
In a statement accompanying the album announcement, the band talked about the inspiration behind “Roman Candles,” sharing that the song “is about the crippling, existential dread that goes hand in hand with living in a nervous city on a dying planet. And that the only way to be in the moment is to let it all go.” Gibbard describes the song as a concentrated effort to create something “succinct, loud and strikingly direct,” sharing that “the lyrics were cobbled from a couple of different songs dealing with my general sense of anxiety; the feeling that the fabric that weaves a functioning society together was crumbling during the pandemic.”
Death Cab for Cutie have also announced a wide-ranging North American tour in support of the album, joining previously announced summer dates. The whole run of shows will kick off in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 7 and will wrap up with two dates in the band’s home state of Washington at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on Oct. 26 and 27. Various stretches of the tour will feature illuminati hotties, Low and Yo La Tengo joining the band as support acts. Presale for the tour will begin on Monday, May 16, at 10 a.m. local time and will continue through Thursday, May 19, at 10 p.m. local time. General sale begins Friday, May 20, at 10 a.m. local time. Further presale details are available on the band’s website.
Check out the lyric video for “Roman Candles” below, along with a 2008 Death Cab session from the Paste archives, and keep scrolling to see the Asphalt Meadows album art and a full list of the band’s tour dates. You can preorder Asphalt Meadows here.
Asphalt Meadows Art:
Death Cab for Cutie Tour Dates:
May
21 – Guadalajara, MX @ Corona Capital Guadalajara *
28 – Portland, OR @ TEDxPortland Year 10 @ Moda Center/Theater of the Clouds
July
07 – Cincinnati, OH @ PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation +
08 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe +
09 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest @ Generac Power Stage *
11 – Buffalo, NY @ ARTPARK +
12 – LaFayette, NY @ Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards +
14 – Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg University at Riverfront Park +
15 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena +
16 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ MJN Convention Center +
September
22 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ^
23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing Festival Field
24 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
26 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! ^
27 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^
29 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met ^
30 – New York, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium ^
October
01 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion ^
03 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater ^
04 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy ^
06 – Richmond, VA @ Virginia Credit Union LIVE! ^
07 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit ^
08 – Charleston, SC @ Firefly Distillery ^
10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^
11 – Detroit, MI @ The Masonic ^
13 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory ^
14 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland ^
15 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
17 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
18 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues Anaheim #
19 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl #
21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre #
22 – San Diego, CA @ Venue TBA #
23 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater #
24 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater #
26 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
27 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
(* = Festival Performance)
(+ = w/Special Guests illuminati hotties)
(^ = w/Special Guests Low)
(# = w/ Special Guests Yo La Tengo)
