The phenomenal success of Transatlanticism has seen Death Cab For Cutie emerge as one of the finest feel-good indie bands going, cemented by their appearance on one of the happiest, sunniest TV series of recent years, the OC. But there is more to the American four-piece - the lyrics of Ben Gibbard are deeper, softer and simply sound better than his contemporaries, and the band's soundscaped textures give them an other-worldly feel.
New single Soul Meets Body displays all such qualities. There is a distinct resemblance to REM's Losing My Religion, with jangling acoustic guitar strumming throughout, and a wonderfully upbeat rhythm accompanying lyrics of loss and wonderment: "If the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too." The melody here is so strong that Gibbard can resort to singing "ba ba bas" and still carry it off. His is a voice that never truly loses its presence within the song, be it the quieter breakdowns or the heavily strummed, menacing tones of the song's later stages.
On hearing the new record, I would suggest that there are greater efforts to come, but there is still plenty in this record to keep the fans smiling.
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