#6 – Asphalt Meadows (2022)

After a slew of pretty underwhelming albums, Asphalt Meadows definitely brought back some old Death Cab listeners that had stopped following the band. 

Compared to Thank You for Today, Ben Gibbard and company sound much more musically comfortable on this record. It’s a healthy blend between the old Death Cab sound and their new sound. Asphalt Meadows has a lot more explosive, dynamic highs (“I Don’t Know How I Survive” and “Roman Candles”) compared to their previous releases. Regardless, Asphalt is probably one of the most upbeat records the band ever released, and it’s a breath of fresh air. “Floxgove Through the Clearcut” is the first Death Cab “spoken word” song with Gibbard poetically declaring the lyrics instead of singing them. Asphalt even has some of the best slow, stripped back songs that the band has released in a very long time (“Rand McNally” and “Wheat Like Waves”). 

In this record, you can tell that Death Cab is finally getting used to their new sound and band members.

However, I can’t bring myself to rank it higher. It sits comfortably in the #6 spot, outclassing some of their recent releases but bested by some of their older albums.

Best Song: Wheat Likes Waves

Worst Song: I’ll Never Give Up on You