Death Cab for Cutie Reveal "KINTSUGI" in Full; Acclaimed New Album Premieres Today on NPR: First Listen in Advance of March 31st Release
Band to do special Live In-Store performance for the first time in more than a decade at Los Angeles' Amoeba Music, Hollywood on release day; High Profile TV performances slated including ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 1 and CBS This Morning: Saturday on April 4
KINTSUGI has just had its official world premiere and is streaming now in its entirety, exclusively via NPR First Listen: http://www.npr.org/2015/03/22/393583853/first-listen-death-cab-for-cutie-kintsugi. The album features the new hit single, "Black Sun," currently the #1 song at Triple A radio outlets nationwide as well as a Top 10 favorite at Modern Rock. In addition, the "Black Sun" companion video -- directed by Robert Hales (Jack White, Tame Impala, Gnarls Barkley) -- is streaming now at Death Cab for Cutie's official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTbVIfqeDq0.
Other highlights include such tracks as "No Room In Frame," "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive," and "Little Wanderer" -- all available now at the iTunes Store as instant grat tracks with "KINTSUGI" pre-orders: http://smarturl.it/Kintsugi. Lyric videos for all three songs are streaming now atwww.youtube.com/user/DCFCtv.
Early critical acclaim has greeted KINTSUGI as a whole, with Stereogum praising it in a recent Cover Story as "inevitably elegiac... full of classic Death Cab structures and melodies, but with new little elements that still sets it apart. Synths and a rhythmic focus play a large role, but feel incorporated seamlessly into the band's pre-existing aesthetic..." While the New York Observerhailed, "The band continues its penchant for thoughtful poetic confessionals; the music flows like a well-written novel, telling the group's latest-chapter beautifully."
Death Cab for Cutie will continue to launch "KINTSUGI" with a series of upcoming TV appearances, including an outdoor concert performance of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! On April 1st and a visit toCBS This Morning: Saturday on April 4 (check local listings). The band will also celebrate the album's release with a very special live in-store performance, for the first time in over a decade, at Los Angeles' Amoeba Music, Hollywood on March 31 at 6 p.m. Fans who purchase KINTSUGI starting on 3/31 will receive pre-signed album artwork and guaranteed admission to the live in-store performance. http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/upcoming/detail-3272/
In other news, Death Cab for Cutie is set to embark on their hugely anticipated North American headline tour, kicking off Friday, April 10th in Mesa, Arizona and then travelling through the fall (see itinerary below). Highlights include sold-out dates at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium on 29th, Chicago's Chicago Theatre on April 30th and May 1st, and Toronto's Sony Centre For The Performing Arts on May 7th, as well as major shows including Hollywood's Hollywood Bowl on July 12th, Morrison, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 15th, and New York City's Madison Square Garden on September 12th.
The tour -- which also sees European festival dates and headline shows including three sold-out nights at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire -- concludes October 3rd, 4th, and 5th with three sold-out homecoming shows at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. Support on the tour comes from an array of special guests, including Say Hi, The Antlers, Built To Spill, TUnE-YArDs, and Explosions In The Sky. For complete details and ticket information, please log on tohttp://deathcabforcutie.com/shows.
The upcoming trek will see Death Cab for Cutie's core membership of singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, bassist Nick Harmer, and drummer Jason McGerr augmented by new touring members Dave Depper (Menomena, Fruit Bats, Corin Tucker, Ray Lamontagne) and Zac Rae (My Brightest Diamond, Fiona Apple, Lana Del Rey, Gnarls Barkley), both of whom will contribute additional guitars and keyboards. The band began 2015 by playing intimate dates in Brooklyn and Seattle -- their first shows since the departure of founding member Chris Walla. "The onstage chemistry between (the) original members... and the new players was surprisingly heartfelt," raved Seattle Weekly. "The vibe felt as if they had been jamming together for years, and it showed in how beautifully they riffed off of each other during the set's numerous instrumental solos."
Recorded in Los Angeles with Rich Costey (Foster the People, Muse, Vampire Weekend, Chvrches) behind the board, "KINTSUGI" takes its title from the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum, highlighting cracks rather than hiding them. As such, KINTSUGI represents a compassionate aesthetic philosophy in which damage and wear are embraced as part of an object's history.
"Considering what we were going through internally, and with what a lot of the lyrics are about, it had a great deal of resonance for us -- the idea of figuring out how to repair breaks and make them a thing of beauty," says bassist Nick Harmer, who suggested the name to Gibbard and McGerr. "Philosophically, spiritually, emotionally, it seems perfect for this group of songs."
For nearly two decades, Death Cab for Cutie has been hailed as one of contemporary music's most compelling and creative collectives. Born in Bellingham, Washington in 1997, the band followed a long relationship with the Seattle-based independent label, Barsuk, by making their Atlantic Records debut with their fifth studio release, 2005's "PLANS." The album proved Death Cab for Cutie's popular breakthrough, earning RIAA platinum certification as well as spawning the chart-topping singles, "Soul Meets Body" and "I Will Follow You Into The Dark." The latter track was honored with a GRAMMY® nomination as "Best Pop Performance By Duo Or Group With Vocals," with "PLANS" receiving the nod as "Best Alternative Album." "DIRECTIONS," the 2006 DVD companion to "PLANS," earned an additional GRAMMY® nod as "Best Longform Music Video."
Now fully affirmed as an era-defining band, Death Cab for Cutie made a stunning #1 debut atop the SoundScan/Billboard 200 with 2008's RIAA gold certified NARROW STAIRS. More critical acclaim and two further GRAMMY® nominations followed, including nods for "Best Alternative Album" and "Best Rock Song" (honoring the hit single, "I Will Possess Your Heart"). "THE OPEN DOOR" EP was released in 2009, earning DCfC a third consecutive GRAMMY® Award nomination for "Best Alternative Album." "CODES AND KEYS" arrived in 2011 and made a top 3 entry on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 before receiving the band's fourth straight GRAMMY® nomination for "Best Alternative Music Album." "You Are A Tourist," the album's first single, also proved a multi-format radio smash, reaching #1 at both Triple A and Modern Rock outlets nationwide -- Death Cab for Cutie's first-ever #1 at the latter format.
For more news and information, please log on to www.deathcabforcutie.com.
