Kintsugi, Atlantic Records, Rs. 120 (MP3)
Back in 2011, it was a few weeks after American indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie’s vocalist Ben Gibbard had announced his separation from wife and actor-singer Zooey Deschanel that I got to see him channel the sorrow and frustration of a break-up into his band’s show. All their classic hits such as ‘We Laugh Indoors’ to ‘Transatlanticism’ and ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’ were part of their set, while happier songs such as ‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’ weren’t part of their set. More than two years after their divorce, Gibbard still has things left to say about his relationship with Deschanel, and Death Cab for Cutie, being the best poets for the modern lonely heart of their era, step back into the pain of heartbreak with their latest album Kintsugi.
You don’t have to even mine the 11-track album to hit on the nerve, since Gibbard makes it very clear in the first song, ‘No Room in Frame’, “Was I in your way. When the cameras turned to face you? No room in frame. For two.” Even in his most personal revelation, Gibbard adds that one line that makes them famously relatable: “We’ll both go on to get lonely with someone else.” The band hides behind cryptic metaphors on their lead single ‘Black Sun’ that follows, but the half-electronic approach to the song with synthesizers still has a sing-along refrain, “How could something so fair, be so cruel?”
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You can hear a lot of classic DCFC on Kintsugi, named after the Japanese art of rebuilding broken pots. ‘The Ghosts of Beverly Drive’ and ‘Little Wanderer’ have familiar upbeat guitar riffs with more synth elements and clappers coming in.
But then they strip it all away for songs like ‘You’ve Haunted Me All My Life’ and ‘Hold No Guns’ a throwback to their ‘Transatlanticism’ days, where a single acoustic guitar and Gibbard’s resigned vocals serve as the base. Things turn dance-floor friendly on ‘Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)’. This one has a clear stamp of now former member Chris Walla, who is featuring on his last album with the band.
The rest of Kintsugi plays out like most other DCFC albums, which has its pros and cons. It won’t catch on immediately, but the lyrics are always the best hooks for the band. Give it enough spins, and that’ll be the case with Kintsugi as well.
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