Death Cab for Cutie are releasing a new album, Asphalt Meadows, on September 16 via Atlantic. Now the album’s previously shared first single, “Roman Candles,” has a music video that was shot in one-take and features the band performing the song while roman candle fireworks explode around them. Lance Bangs directed the video. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.
Frontman Benjamin Gibbard had this to say about the video in a press release: “We’ve known Lance for years and it was great to get a chance to work with him again. He took this concept I had come up with and made it better than we could ever have imagined. The dude is brilliant and a total blast to work with.”
“Roman Candles” was one of our Songs of the Week.
“‘Roman Candles’ is about the crippling, existential dread that goes hand in hand with living in a nervous city on a dying planet. And that the only way to be in the moment is to let it all go,” the band collectively said in a previous press release.
Gibbard added: “The lyrics were cobbled from a couple of different songs dealing with my general sense of anxiety; the feeling that the fabric that weaves a functioning society together was crumbling during the pandemic.”
John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten) produced Asphalt Meadows, which is the follow-up to 2018’s Thank You For Today.
Tickets for their fall tour go on sale on Friday, May 20 at 10 a.m. local time, with presales beginning next Monday, May 16 at 10 a.m. local time.
Earlier this year Gibbard currated the Yoko Ono tribute album, Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono, which featured 14 covers of Ono tracks from artists such as Sharon Van Etten, US Girls, Jay Som, Japanese Breakfast, David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, and Thao, among others.
Gibbard was instrumental in helping us all get through the first year of the pandemic, especially when we were all under lockdown, with his regular Live From Home livestream concerts performed in 2020 at first daily and then weekly from his home studio.
Read our 2020 interview with Gibbard on his Live From Home concerts.
Death Cab for Cutie Tour Dates:
7 – Cincinnati, OH – PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation † 8 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe † 9 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest @ Generac Power Stage * 11 – Buffalo, NY – ARTPARK † 12 – LaFayette, NY – Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards † 14 – Harrisburg, PA – Harrisburg University at Riverfront Park † 15 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena † 16 – Poughkeepsie, NY – MJN Convention Center †
22 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee ^ 23 – Minneapolis, MN – Surly Brewing Festival Field 24 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed 26 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! ^ 27 – Washington, DC – The Anthem ^ 29 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met ^ 30 – New York, NY – Forest Hills Stadium ^
1 – Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion ^ 3 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater ^ 4 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy ^ 6 – Richmond, VA – Virginia Credit Union LIVE! ^ 7 – Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit ^ 8 – Charleston, SC – Firefly Distillery ^ 10 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE ^ 11 – Detroit, MI – The Masonic ^ 13 – St. Louis, MO – The Factory ^ 14 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland ^ 15 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom 17 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren 18 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Anaheim # 19 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl # 21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre # 22 – San Diego, CA – Venue TBA # 23 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater # 24 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater # 26 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre 27 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
* Festival Performance † w/Special Guests illuminati hotties ^ w/Special Guests Low # w/ Special Guests Yo La Tengo
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Dec 21, 2021 Issue #69 - 20th Anniversary Issue