American indie alternative rock band Death Cab For Cutie`s eleventh album ‘I Built You A Tower` was created during a period marked by both reflection on the band’s past and significant personal change for frontman Ben Gibbard. The singer has shared that its not a divorce record, but rather a record about the aftermath—running from or sidelining grief, coming to terms with the emotional debt that accrues, one man’s at-times harrowing reckoning with himself and the past lives left in his wake.
A strummed acoustic guitar opens `Full of Stars` which is a quite tender and appears to be full of introspective thoughtful regret shared over a recurring piano harmony and some gentle guitar chord riffs. I read that `Punching The Flowers` came from a real-life experience of a toddler throwing a tantrum literally punching flowers outside a bodega and equates into a metaphor for a man who has something beautiful and sees its hold over him as a cage, a frustration. A song about stagnation and the feeling of being imprisoned by the Known and about the damage done when someone ventures deeper into the unknown. There`s a tapped pulsing drum beat with fairly angry and more intricate guitar chords spread atop.
`Pep Talk` is more or less what it says on the tin, a mantra to motivate oneself to face life rather than hide away shared over a dreamy melodic backing with some nice vocal harmonies. There seemed to be a recognition of how obstructions had been built with `I Built You a Tower (A)` a slightly jagged listen.
`Envy The Birds` is heavier musically and maybe mirrors the lyrics which seem to relate to disagreements or conflicts. We have in `Stone Over Water` a song about trying to convince everyone around you and most importantly, yourself, that you are okay when you definitely are not. A quite rhythmic melodic composition.
`How Heavenly a State` is fairly angular and stop start and may be about viewing a situation with a wider view on mortality. The ballad like `Trapdoor` has an electronic underscore and is a assessment on a separation.
`Riptides` according to the singer is about the challenge of dealing with personal struggles as the world around us experiences tragedy and loss on an unfathomable scale and how when these two elements intertwine themselves in our psyches, it feels utterly paralyzing. It`s a rolling rhythmic composition with emotive vocals splayed atop. We have a more optimistic vibe to `The Flavor of Metal` which rolls along and portrays a kind of “light at the end of the tunnel” belief.
The final track `I Built You a Tower (B)` is pretty expansive and feels like a recognition of past mistakes and an almost coming to terms of where one is and the way forward.
There`s no doubt that Ben Gibbard is a gifted writer and the band are seasoned musicians but at times I was left a little confounded and distracted by the lyrical content and disjointed accompanying soundscape. Whatever slant you give this it`s a breakup album or as they refer to the aftermath of one and probably quite cathartic for the singer-songwriter. There were parts that I really enjoy but a lot of it left me cold.
Rating 7.5/1
