Photo: Shervin Lainez
Death Cab For Cutie have laid out plans for their 11th studio album.
The seven-time Grammy-nominated American band will release 'I Built You A Tower' through ANTI- Records on June 5, following up 2022's 'Asphalt Meadows' and marking a return to their independent roots after two decades with Atlantic Records.
Produced and engineered by the acclaimed John Congleton, the album was recorded over three weeks of sessions at Animal Rites studio in Los Angeles and at at the band members' homes in Seattle, Bellingham, Los Angeles and Portland.
The announcement follows the band's sold-out tours celebrating the 20th anniversaries of their albums 'Transatlanticism' and 'Plans'. The shows helped shape the new record, as guitarist-vocalist Ben Gibbard faced major pressure performing with both DCFC and his former band The Postal Service on arena stages while his personal life unravelled behind the scenes. The record's "tower" emerged as a metaphore for the protection he built around himself. He explained:
"There’s this need to find a place in ourselves to put loss and grief. 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 added: "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?"
Bassist Nicholas Harmer shared: "The whole experience of this record got us back to the earliest versions of this band: If the musicians in the room like what we’re working on, that’s enough. We reconnected with the confidence that comes with that."
Alongside the announcement, the band (completed by drummer Jason McGerr and multi-instrumentalist Zac Rae) have shared the record's first single, Riptides, a driving, melodic indie-rock offering with introspective lyrics conveyed by Gibbard's distinctive gentle vocal delivery. He said:
"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 have have also scheduled the UK and European leg of their I Built You A Tower Tour for September and October, with tickets going on general sale at 10am local time on Friday (March 20).
The new dates will follow their previously announced North American tour during the summer months, tickets for which are on sale now.
'I Built You a Tower' tracklist:
1. Full of Stars
2. Punching The Flowers
3. Pep Talk
4. I Built You A Tower (a)
5. Envy The Birds
6. Stone Over Water
7. How Heavenly a State
8. Trap Door
9. Riptides
10. The Flavor of Metal
11. I Built You A Tower (b)
Death Cab For Cutie Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Fri May 29 2026 - DENVER Colorado - Auraria Campus (USA)
Fri July 10 2026 - MINNEAPOLIS Minnesota - Armory (USA)
Sat July 11 2026 - MILWAUKEE Wisconsin - Miller High Life Theatre (USA)
Sun July 12 2026 - INDIANAPOLIS Indiana - Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park (formerly TCU Amphitheater) (USA)
Tue July 14 2026 - NEWPORT Kentucky - MegaCorp Pavilion (USA)
Wed July 15 2026 - CLEVELAND Ohio - Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica (USA)
Fri July 17 2026 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - TD Pavilion at the Mann in Fairmount Park (USA)
Sat July 18 2026 - CANANDAIGUA New York - Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC) (USA)
Sun July 19 2026 - TORONTO Ontario - RBC Amphitheatre (formerly Budweiser Stage) at Ontario Place - Complex (Canada)
Tue July 21 2026 - COLUMBIA Maryland - Merriweather Post Pavilion (USA)
Wed July 22 2026 - RALEIGH North Carolina - Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek (USA)
Fri July 24 2026 - ST LOUIS Missouri - Stifel Theatre (USA)
Sat July 25 2026 - BENTONVILLE Arkansas - Momentary Green (USA)
Sun July 26 2026 - COUNCIL BLUFFS Iowa - Stir Cove at Harrahs (USA)
Tue July 28 2026 - SANDY Utah - Sandy Amphitheater (USA)
Wed July 29 2026 - SANDY Utah - Sandy Amphitheater (USA)
Fri July 31 2026 - PHOENIX Arizona - Arizona Financial Theatre (USA)
Sun August 02 2026 - LOS ANGELES California - Greek Theatre Los Angeles (USA)
Mon August 03 2026 - LOS ANGELES California - Greek Theatre Los Angeles (USA)
Tue August 04 2026 - SAN DIEGO California - Gallagher Square at Petco Park - Complex (USA)
Thu August 06 2026 - LAS VEGAS Nevada - Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas (Formerly known as Joint at Hard Rock) (USA)
Fri August 07 2026 - PASO ROBLES California - Vina Robles Amphitheatre (USA)
Wed September 16 2026 - DUBLIN 3Olympia Theatre
Sat September 19 2026 - MANCHESTER O2 Victoria Warehouse
Sun September 20 2026 - EDINBURGH Corn Exchange
Mon September 21 2026 - GATESHEAD Glasshouse
Wed September 23 2026 - BRISTOL Prospect Building
Fri September 25 2026 - LONDON Troxy
Tue September 29 2026 - UTRECHT TivoliVredenburg (Netherlands)
Wed September 30 2026 - BRUSSELS Cirque Royal (Belgium)
Thu October 01 2026 - BERLIN Columbiahalle (Germany)
Sat October 03 2026 - PARIS Elysee Montmartre (France)
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