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Rating: We had left them with the little masterpiece Transatlanticism. We find them again with an unexpected popularity due to being the favorite band of the protagonist of the current teen TV show the O.C. and with a contract with a major label. But the discussion doesn't change one bit.
The CD opens with "Marching Bands Of Manhattan," where a tambourine and a sweet, light guitar let us into the heart of a lover who wishes to stretch himself so far as to cover the distance separating him from his beloved, the melody is pleasant and reassuring. Then comes "Soul Meets Body," the first fantastic single, where an acoustic guitar with an almost nervous pace reigns, calmed by the soft keyboard carpet; it's a song that requires a few listens to be fully appreciated, but then it creates a pleasant addiction. It's a simultaneously peaceful and tormented meeting between soul and body. "Summer Skin" is the third track; the snare drum flows, a very vintage piano and bass dictate the tempo, the atmosphere is warm and dreamy, with highly appreciable instrumental interludes; it seems to evoke the golden, hot, and desired skin of that girl we met at the sea, all behind an inevitable curtain of nostalgia. It is followed by "Different Names For The Same Thing," the melancholic and solitary escape of a boy alone on a train with an old map, uninterested in the stops, convinced that the cities, even if they have different names, are essentially all the same. After the first part is dominated by the singer's melancholic voice followed almost timidly by the other instruments, around mid-point we are faced with an interesting electronic interlude, reminiscent of the carefree and romanticism of French electronic pop (Phoenix above all).
"I Will Follow You Into The Dark" starts and continues throughout with an acoustic guitar, it is the sweet and intimate whisper in the girlfriend's ear, a promise of love that goes beyond death, as sweet as it is moving, as heartbreaking in words as it is pleasant in melody. Bass and drums return as protagonists in "Your Heart Is An Empty Room," to be honest not very convincing, with an electric guitar seemingly borrowed from The Edge's riffs. "Someday You Will Be Loved" is also not on the level of the first tracks, with faint guitar strumming and arpeggios that recall the movement of a music box.
The flaw of the record is this. The various songs are very similar to each other, and after a very slow and light piece, one might expect perhaps a bit of an amplifier increase (always within the band's limits, of course). This doesn't happen. These would be flaws if we considered music in general, but since we're talking about Death Cab For Cutie, who have made this characteristic a trademark, we shouldn't be too disconcerted.
More upbeat "Crooked Teeth," electric and contagious especially towards the end. Lovely and intense "What Sarah Said" with a very incisive and rhythmic piano (although it gets a bit lost in the over 6 minutes of repeating the same loop). "Brothers On A Hotel Bed" and "Stable Song" remain on the same line of lyrics and music.
A definitely pleasant album, although not on the level of Transatlanticism, even if the characteristics such as intensity and poignant lyrics about the teenage world are all maintained. Maybe I expected something a bit innovative, a slight shift, which is not there. But for those who didn't expect anything more and just wanted 11 new songs from this band so emo and so close to the feelings of teenagers to cry or dream about, this record will be perfect.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Marching Bands of Manhattan (04:12)
If I could open my arms and span the length of the isle of Manhattan
I'd bring it to where you are, making a lake of the East River and Hudson
If I could open my mouth wide enough for a marching band to march out
They would make your name sing and bend through alleys and bounce off all the buildings
I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time
Oh what a beautiful view, if you were never aware of what was around you
And it is true what you said: that I live like a hermit in my own head
But when the sun shines again I'll pull the curtains and blinds to let the light in
Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half-empty or half-full
It slowly rises: your love is gonna drown
Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half-empty or half-full
It slowly rises: your love is gonna drown
Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half-empty or half-full
It slowly rises: your love is gonna drown
Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half-empty or half-full
It slowly rises: your love is gonna drown
Your love is gonna drown
Your love is gonna drown
Your love is gonna drown
Your love is gonna drown
Your love is gonna...
02 Soul Meets Body (03:50)
I want to live where soul meets body
And let the sun wrap its arms around me,
And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
And feel... feel what it's like to be new.
'Cause in my head
There's a Greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts
To far-off destinations
So they may have a chance
Of finding a place where they're
Far more suited than here.
I cannot guess what we'll discover
When we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels,
But I know our filthy hands can wash one another's
And not one speck will remain.
I do believe it's true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes,
But if the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too.
So brown eyes, I'll hold you near,
'Cause you're the only song I want to hear.
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
Where soul meets body.
Where soul meets body.
Where soul meets body.
And I do believe it's true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes,
But if the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too.
So brown eyes, I'll hold you near,
'Cause you're the only song I want to hear.
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
03 Summer Skin (03:14)
Squeaky swings and tall grass
The longest shadows ever cast
The water's warm and children swim
And we frolicked about in our summer skin
I don't recall a single care
Just greenery and humid air
Then Labor Day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin
On the night you left I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats were so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn't win
'Cause the season's change was a conduit
And we'd left our love in our summer skin
04 Different Names for the Same Thing (05:08)
Alone on a train aimless in wonder
An outdated map crumpled in my pocket
But I didn't care where I was going
They're all different names for the same place.
The coast just appeared when the sea drown the summer
I've no words to share with anyone
The boundaries of language are quietly cursed
All the different names for the same different.
There are different names for the same things
There are different names for the same things...
05 I Will Follow You Into the Dark (03:09)
Love of mine
Someday you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark
No blinding light
Or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NO's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
In Catholic school
As vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son, fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NO's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
You and me
Have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes
are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
'Cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NO's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark
08 Crooked Teeth (03:23)
It was one hundred degrees
As we sat beneath a willow tree
Whose tears didn't care
They just hung in the air
And refused to fall, to fall
And I knew I'd make a horrible call
And now the state line felt like the Berlin Wall
And there was no doubt about which side I was on, mmhmm
'Cause I built you a home in my heart
With rotten wood it decayed from the start
'Cause you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I braved treacherous street
And kids strung out on homemade speed
And we shared a bed in which I could not sleep
At all, woohoo
'Cause at night the sun in the tree
Made the skyline look like crooked teeth
In the mouth of a man who was devouring us both
You're so cute when you're slurring your speech
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I'm a war of head versus heart
It's always this way
My head is weak
My heart always speaks
Before I know what it will say
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
09 What Sarah Said (06:20)
And it came to me then
That every plan
Is a tiny prayer to Father Time
As I stared at my shoes in the ICU
That reeked of piss and 409
And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself
That I'd already taken too much today
As each descending peak on the LCD
Took you a little farther away from me
Away from me...
Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines
In a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind
That our memories depend
On a faulty camera in our minds
And I knew that you were a truth
I would rather lose
Than to have never lain beside at all
And I looked around
At all the eyes on the ground
As the TV entertained itself
'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
Then the nurse comes round
And everyone lifts their head
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said:
"Love is watching someone die..."
So who's gonna watch you die?
So who's gonna watch you die?
So who's gonna watch you die?
10 Brothers on a Hotel Bed (04:31)
You may tire of me as our December sun is setting
'Cause I'm not who I used to be
No longer easy on the eyes
But these wrinkles masterfully disguise
The youthful boy below
Who turned your way and saw
Something he was not looking for
Both a beginning and an end
But now he lives inside someone he does not recognize
When he catches his reflection on accident
On the back of a motor bike
With your arms outstretched trying to take flight
Leaving everything behind
But even at our swiftest speed
We couldn't break from the concrete
In the city where we still reside.
And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn
For the sea like navy men
'Cause now we say goodnight
From our own separate sides
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed
You may tire of me as our December sun is setting
'Cause I'm not who I used to be
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"'Soul Meets Body' brings Ben Gibbard’s lyrics to the forefront with a strange almost summery atmosphere."
"‘Brothers on a Hotel Bed’ shows that it’s ultimately the journey that matters."
