News

Death Cab Man Ben Gibbard Announces Album & EU Tour

• 27th Sep 2012

Following the news that his debut solo album ‘Former Lives’ will be released on November 12th through City Slang, Death Cab for Cutie front man Benjamin Gibbard has confirmed a European headline tour including a one off show at London’s Union Chapel.

The show at the famously atmospheric London church on December 3rd will see Benjamin perform a selection of material written over the course of his fifteen years in Death Cab for Cutie. He didn’t make his first solo album in search of a new beginning; instead, it closes a door. “These songs span eight years, three relationships, living in two different places, drinking then not drinking” he says of the dozen tracks that comprise ‘Former Lives’. “They’re a side story, not a new chapter.”

The first track from ‘Former Lives’ to make it’s way online, ‘Teardrop Windows’, is about Seattle’s Smith Tower. It began as an unabashed attempt to, in Benjamin’s words, “write a Big Star inspired song,” but quickly morphed into something else entirely. The Smith, built in 1914, was once the jewel of the Seattle skyline but has since been forced out of the frame by the iconic Space Needle and other taller or otherwise attention-grabbing structures. “To me, it represents the things we take for granted when something newer, bigger and flashier comes into our lives,” Benjamin explains.

Stream ‘Teardrop Windows’ here: link

‘Former Lives’ pre-order link: link

‘Former Lives’ track list:

1. Shepherd’s Bush Lullaby
2. Dream Song
3. Teardrop Windows
4. Bigger Than Love
5. Lily
6. Something’s Rattling (Cowpoke)
7. Duncan, Where Have You Gone?
8. Oh, Woe
9. A Hard One To Know
10. Lady Adelaide
11. Broken Yolk In Western Sky
12. I’m Building A Fire

European live dates:

Nov 29 – Hamburg @ Kulturkirche
Nov 30 – Berlin @ Passionskirche
Dec 3 – London @ Union Chapel
Dec 4 – Brussels @ Orangerie
Dec 5 – Paris @ Cafe de la Danse