Critical Record Review - "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie

"Transatlanticism"

Track List:

1. The New Year
2. Lightness
3. Title and Registration
4. Expo '86
5. The Sound of Settling
6. Tiny Vessels
7. Transatlanticism
8. Passenger Seat
9. Death of an Interior Decorator
10. We Looked Like Giants
11. A Lack of Color

The Distance of “Transatlanticism”

            Death Cab for Cutie’s “Transatlanticism” is an album about distance.  Figuratively or literally, the issue of distance is important in every relationship, but especially in the type of relationship that Death Cab for Cutie’s lead singer, Ben Gibbard, writes about on this record.  The album revolves around the theme of love, whether it is mistaken love, lost love, overlooked love, real love, broken love, hidden love, or foolish love.  Each track signifies some variation of “distance” in a relationship that may or may not have “problems with easy solutions” (Track 1 – “The New Year”).  With a few radio-ready tracks, such as “The Sound of Settling”, “Expo ‘86”, and “The New Year”, Death Cab for Cutie has created an album that appeals to a wider audience than their previous records had.  Other tracks on the album are generally slower, sound a bit more melancholy, and are indicative of the emotions that surround relationships in which distance is a big factor.  Without a doubt, “Transatlanticism”, the title track, is the most powerful track on the album, with metaphorical lyrics that include imagery of substantial geographical distance separating two lovers and the simple, resounding line, “I need you so much closer”.  “Transatlanticism” is a special album because a multiplicity of its tracks can appeal to individual listeners in various periods during their life, which makes the album timeless and relatable to more than one audience.  The very nature of “Transatlanticism” is apparent in the band’s press release for the album:  “distances so vast and daunting that they seem impossible to breach.”  The almost depressing value of the made-up term “transatlanticism” is transformed into the optimism of hope by the end of the album, present in its closing lines: “This is fact, not fiction, for the first time in years” (Track 11 – “A Lack of Color”). 

            The aesthetics of “Transatlanticism”—the album’s lyrics, instrumentation, and style of Ben Gibbard’s vocals—merge to form Death Cab for Cutie’s most acclaimed record to date.  “Transatlanticism” scored an eighty-five out of one hundred possible points on www.Metacritic.com and received the honor of being named one of the fifty most important recordings of the decade by NPR (“The Decade’s Fifty Most Important Recordings”, www.npr.org).  Adam Thomas of www.Sputnikmusic.com writes that “Gibbard weaves his stories of love with a captivating simplicity and a pensive honesty that makes every line beautiful in its own right” (“Transatlanticism” review, www.sputnikmusic.com).  Gibbard’s lyrics are inherently deep, and worthy of numerous explorations on this album.  Some of the most intricate, thought-provoking lyrics include:  “I wish the world was flat like the old days / Then i could travel just by folding a map” (“The New Year”); “Oh, instincts are misleading / You shouldn't think what you're feeling / They don't tell you what you know you should want” (“Lightness”); “Sometimes it seems that I don't have the skills to recollect / The twists and turns of plots that turned us from lovers to friends” (“Expo ’86”); “The rhythm of my footsteps crossing flood lands to your door have been silenced forevermore / The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row / It seems farther than ever before” (“Transatlanticism”); “God damn the black night with all its foul temptation / I become what I always hated / When I was with you then” (“We Looked Like Giants”); “If you feel discouraged / That there's a lack of color here / Please don't worry lover / It's really bursting at the seams / Absorbing everything / The spectrum's A to Z” (“A Lack of Color”).  Gibbard has the ability to use metaphorical language and simplistic phrases to describe distance-related circumstances of relationships in a few choice words.  For example, a lover’s longing to be with their beloved in an instant “by folding a map” is a simple, yet transcendent idea in that it disrupts the conventional notion of travel, removing both the typical mode of transportation and the time it would take to reach the desired location. 

In addition to the powerfully simplistic lyrics, one must take into consideration the careful instrumentation and production that Chris Walla, the band member responsible for production and mixing, as well as guitar and keyboards, pairs with Gibbard’s lead vocals.  Walla layers the guitars that both he and Gibbard use with the keyboard, which is sometimes the singular instrument, as in “Passenger Seat”, and the rhythm of the drums and bass in a way that allows the flow of each track to lead into the next one and form a distinct sound unique to Death Cab for Cutie.  However, even with the expert production value and musicianship, the most obvious draw of the band’s audience is Gibbard’s lyrics and vocals. 

“Transatlanticism” is one of the most important albums of the decade, as declared by NPR, and one of the most important albums for anyone in a relationship that involves distance, whether it is emotional or physical distance.  It is special because it offers a perspective of relationships that cannot take certain things for granted, such as the ability to create emotional intimacy or see a significant other in person.  “Transatlanticism” does not attempt to make any bold statement or take a stance on a political issue as many culturally important albums have; it merely asks the listener to consider what “love” means to them and if “the distance is quite simply much too far…to row” in their relationship.   

"Transatlanticism":