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May 11, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Jimmy Fontaine

Death Cab for Cutie have announced a new album, Asphalt Meadows, and shared its first single, the short and distorted “Roman Candles,” via a lyric video. The band have also announced some new fall tour dates. Asphalt Meadows is due out September 16 via Atlantic. Check out “Roman Candles” below via the Juliet Bryant-created lyric video, followed by the album’s cover art and the tour dates.

“‘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 say in a press release.

Frontman Benjamin Gibbard adds: “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: MAY

21 – Guadalajara, MX – Corona Capital Guadalajara *
28 – Portland, OR – TEDxPortland Year 10 @ Moda Center/Theater of the Clouds

JULY

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 †

SEPTEMBER

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 ^

OCTOBER

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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