Death Cab for Cutie have announced I Built You a Tower—their first album in four years and first on an independent label in two decades. Out June 5 via their new home of Anti-, the album follows Asphalt Meadows, released in 2022 by their now-former longtime label Atlantic. John Congleton produced and engineered the latest LP. The band has also added a European leg to its recently announced North American tour. Check out all their forthcoming dates below, along with new song “Riptide.”
The single arrives with a performance video directed by Jason Lester. Says Gibbard in a press release, “‘Riptides’ 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.”
Death Cab’s return to the studio followed a series of shows celebrating the 20th anniversaries of Transatlanticism and Plans. The tower of the title, Gibbard says, symbolizes his emotional shield during a heavy work period that also included extensive Postal Service concerts. “There’s this need to find a place in ourselves to put loss and grief,” he says. “A place that can hold it so we can move on with our lives. But there are these moments where the trauma breaks out of that shell we created for it.”
Guitarist Dave Depper adds, “The anniversary tours exorcised any nostalgia in our systems. We felt part of this powerful force greater than all of us and went into the studio with a sense of, how can we capture that feeling and put it into something new?” The Postal Service went on hiatus after their final 2024 concert, and Death Cab decamped to the studio, recording with Congleton at Animal Rites in Los Angeles and at the band members’ homes in Seattle, Bellingham, Los Angeles, and Portland.
Death Cab for Cutie:
05-29 Denver, CO – Outside Days
07-10 Minneapolis, MN – Armory *
07-11 Milwaukee, WI – Miller High Life Theatre *
07-12 Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park *
07-14 Cincinnati, OH – MegaCorp Pavilion *
07-15 Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion *
07-17 Philadelphia, PA – Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts ^
07-18 Canandaigua, NY – CMAC ^
07-19 Toronto, Ontario – RBC Amphitheatre ^
07-21 Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion ^
07-22 Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek ^
07-24 St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre #
07-25 Bentonville, AR – The Momentary #
07-26 Council Bluffs, IA – Harrah’s Stir Cove #
07-28 Sandy, UT – Sandy Amphitheater #
07-29 Sandy, UT – Sandy Amphitheater #
07-31 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre #
08-02 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre #
08-03 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre #
08-04 San Diego, CA – Gallagher Square at Petco Park #
08-06 Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas &
08-07 Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre &
08-09 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands
09-16 Dublin, Ireland – 3Olympia Theatre
09-19 Manchester, England – O2 Victoria Warehouse
09-20 Edinburgh, Scotland – Corn Exchange
09-21 Gateshead, England – The Glasshouse
09-23 Bristol, England – The Prospect Building
09-25 London, England – Troxy
09-29 Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg
09-30 Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal
10-01 Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
10-03 Paris, France – Elysée Montmartre
