Though Death Cab for Cutie haven't quite wrapped up the recording sessions for their upcoming seventh full-length album, frontman Ben Gibbard can tell you that the as-yet-untitled disc, scheduled for release sometime next year, promises to be a cheerier affair than the group's previous effort, 2008's dour Narrow Stairs. While the band have made a living out of tugging at the heartstrings of the emo nation, even Gibbard admitted in an interview with Spin that Death Cab's last mope fest was a little over the top.
"There's a level of self-loathing in [Narrow Stairs] that I'm a bit of embarrassed about now," Gibbard said. "It's a really dark record. I didn't want to make that record again. I didn't want to write those songs again."
While he hints at his sunnier outlook on life, the singer is reluctant to chalk all his good spirits up to his recent marriage to actress Zooey Deschanel and subsequent move to L.A. Honestly, though, both of those events probably helped.
"Everything I write is reflective of my own life and the lives of those people around me," he said. "They reflect the conversations you have and the rumblings of life around you. But when somebody gets married, people assume that they're going to get a certain thing out of an album."
Musically, the album also promises to be a shift. One of many distinguishing factors is the group's move from six-strings to synths.
"It's not a guitar-based record. We've been into vintage keyboards and playing with that palette," he continued. "We're not adding guitars because people will be expecting them… I'm so proud of this album that at this point I don't care if people don't like it."
"There's a level of self-loathing in [Narrow Stairs] that I'm a bit of embarrassed about now," Gibbard said. "It's a really dark record. I didn't want to make that record again. I didn't want to write those songs again."
While he hints at his sunnier outlook on life, the singer is reluctant to chalk all his good spirits up to his recent marriage to actress Zooey Deschanel and subsequent move to L.A. Honestly, though, both of those events probably helped.
"Everything I write is reflective of my own life and the lives of those people around me," he said. "They reflect the conversations you have and the rumblings of life around you. But when somebody gets married, people assume that they're going to get a certain thing out of an album."
Musically, the album also promises to be a shift. One of many distinguishing factors is the group's move from six-strings to synths.
"It's not a guitar-based record. We've been into vintage keyboards and playing with that palette," he continued. "We're not adding guitars because people will be expecting them… I'm so proud of this album that at this point I don't care if people don't like it."
