So far, aside from the fantastic live video performance, I had been kind of disappointed with Death Cab for Cutie's musical output from their forthcoming album, Codes and Keys. I felt much like I did when I heard "Soul Meets Body" after being fully immersed in Transatlanticism for the past year or so: like a slow-walking abandonment from individual relation and sickening transition into a more formulaic, saccharine sound. There was nothing to engage in, and it was void of some of the eloquent and vivid descriptions that are usually poignant within Ben Gibbard's lyricism.
Granted, every band grows and changes, even ones you've loved for eight years. Scratch that, especially the ones you've loved for eight years. But that length of time spent waveringly entranced gets its moments of clarity, and this one is called "Underneath the Sycamore." Maybe it's the slight variation in the song's progression from their other singles, or the succint imagery, or the way Ben seems to just belt it out just that much more, but I think this is the single that may convince stragglers to pay attention to Codes and Keys. So in case you were still on the fence, absorb the single below before the album drops May 31.
"Home is a Fire" got a video as well! Shepard Fairey helped out with the typographical street art posted all over Los Angeles.
Play video(via CoS)