Upon signing to Atlantic several years ago, you would have found it difficult to begrudge Death Cab For Cutie’s opportunity at more mainstream success.  After several excellent albums on local independent label Barsuk, the extra financial benefits and greater exposure culminated in a no.1 album on the U.S.  Billboard with their last effort and their sixth in total; ‘Narrow Stairs’ in 2008.

When the press release blurb did the rounds earlier in the year for their new album, the main talking point that arose was that this release would be less guitar-centric than previous efforts and more experimental in terms of structure than you would associate with such a steady and successful alternative indie act. I wasn’t particularly daunted by this. On previous records, they haven’t solely relied on guitars and 4-5 minute songs; most notably on the beautiful title track from Transatlanticism and ‘What Sarah Said’ from their 1^st major record label Plans.

Upon listening to ‘Codes and Keys’, it becomes apparent they are making changes to their sound, but nothing like what was mooted before its release.  It’s refreshing they are embracing new ideas as they enter their 15^th year in existence, but this still sounds very much like a Death Cab For Cutie album. The biggest change I noticed was the relatively positive atmosphere the record gives of.  It’s well documented that lead singer Benjamin Gibbered is now happily married to a Hollywood star. But I don’t like to back the ideal that good artists can’t be ‘happy’; I’d rather ridicule it to be honest.  I would argue that is has the potential to feel less personal, or to put it harshly, less believable.  Unfortunately that is often the case here. 

When Gibbard sings on opener ‘Home is a Fire’, “Nothing’s the same”, the fact that this isn’t 2001; this isn’t The Photo Album; this isn’t a man who isn’t content with much around him; really hits home.  However this album isn’t without its fine moments and the reassurance you used to get from previous Death Cab releases. The title track announces proudly ‘we are alive’, all in it together once again; whilst on ‘Some Boys’ Gibbard sings like he’s looking back to his past when he ‘didn’t know how to love’.

The keyboard driven atmospheric ‘Unobstructed Views’ is a real highlight whilst ‘Under the Sycamore’ wouldn’t have been out of place on ‘Plans’. Unfortunately for ‘Codes and Keys’, other songs seem to pass you by before you’ve really taken notice. It’s only on the closer that you start to pay attention again. ‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’ is a pleasant enough song full of the positivity that was absent in earlier work;  but it really hits home that the fans of Death Cab from previous albums, like Gibbard and his band, have gotten older and moved on, but not necessarily in the same direction.