New Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"
You guys had fun with our game building jokes out of Death Cab's new record title Narrow Stairs (e.g. Ned said: "How do you confine an obese person to the lower floors of a house?" -- and that's the most politically correct one) ... but we think you're gonna find even more to love out of the record's first listen, "I Will Possess Your Heart." Walla's back on production of course, setting the scene instrumentally for almost two minutes with a groovy bass vamp, a little piano, and atmospheric guitar chatter. Actually, it's not too far from a Phish jam (that's not a joke), until Gibbard starts in with the earnest requests to spend time together and the threats of heart possession. This is the bass line that soundtracked that video preview last year. We're liking it.
If you're into buying your music, Amazon will possess your wallet.
Narrow Stairs is out 5/13 via Atlantic. The tracklist:
01 "Bixby Canyon Bridge"
02 "I Will Possess Your Heart"
03 "No Sunlight"
04 "Cath..."
05 "Talking Bird"
06 "You Can Do Better Than Me"
07 "Grapevine Fires"
08 "Your New Twin Sized Bed"
09 "Long Division"
10 "Pity and Fear"
11 "The Ice Is Getting Thinner"
Posted at 2:24 PM
Tags: Ben Gibbard | Chris Walla | Death Cab For Cutie
i love it. little skeptical at first but i can't wait to hear the rest of the album.
Score = 0
yeah, so i got transatlanticism and thought that was boring. then i got plans, and i thought that was even more boring. then i just heard this 4:30 minute intro, oh god, don't get me started. i hope long division isn't a fugazi cover they messed up into a 10 minute song.
Score = -3
I dug it. You're right about the Phish-y intro though; and once upon a time, I would have said that was a good thing. Nowadays, not so much...
Score = 4
Woah, long intro. I dig.
Score = 4
Well the lyrics are still full of what I call "Gibbardsms," but overall I love the song and the production is impeccable as always.
Score = 0
"gibbarish" is you will
Score = 3
What are the odds that "Long Division" is a Fugazi cover? That would be...odd.
Score = 0
i can only handle my death cab in 3:30 doses. this is boring and stupid. they're a great pop band, why mess with that?
Score = -7
I can't wait for this album.
Score = 1
That bassline was good the first twenty seven times.
Score = 2
what a weird choice for first single ?
Score = 0
the song's alright... but those vocals are awful. yeah very much "gibbardisms" i guess, but what's with his delivery on this one?
Score = -2
His vocals seem too suitable for the radio now unlike The Photo Album, We Have the Facts, and Something About Airplanes. This in fact really bothers me.
Score = -2
@ Joey, the radio single will be sans intro. Anyways, definitely digging the jam session intro...reminds me of their live show.
Score = 4
Pretty good tune, psyched to hear the record!
Score = 1
Oof. What a sigh of relief when those vocals finally hit. And then a great disappointment. I disagree that the lyrics are Gibbardesque (I like the adjective form better than the noun -ism form); there's far too much repetition and far too little imagery. Well, good for him for trying divergent styles. I'm just not into it.
Score = -1
I feel compelled to reply to my own comment. I heard it this morning on the radio sans lengthy guitar intro and I loved it. I guess it's one of those songs that just has to grow on you.
Score = 0
i wonder if they'll shorten it for a radio edit or something... cause i don't know if the general public can handle this much...um not words
Score = -5
Neds joke would've been funnier if he switched "obese person" with "pregnant girlfriend".
@ Nick: Couldn't agree more. But maybe that's the ADD.
Score = -1
death cab are heading towards a new direction with this one. i bet they'll play Lollapalooza this year.
Score = 0
I agree, it's interesting. Long single but I like the decision to do something different. Far from a disappointment, looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.
Score = 2
I admire the experimentation (for them), but it got dull after the first 7 minutes. Like a failed Yo La Tengo excursion.
Score = -1
i love every second of it. i wonder if doing this was a conscious decision to drive away all the 13 year old girls and people like nick up there. i dont so much see the phish comparison, but jammy it indeed is.
Score = 3
It has its moments, but hardly sounds like a hit single (not that this is a bad thing). Color me very curious about the rest of the album. Though I find myself infinitely more excited about Tapes 'n Tapes.
Score = 0
I like it, though the intro sounds a lot more like Tortoise to me than it does Phish...
Score = 1
the vocals felt Interpol-esque to moi. makes heart possession sound like a dire threat.
Score = 2
It was okay. The bass line was just as unnecessarily repetitive as the chorus.
Score = -2
Not trying to be a hater, but i honestly did not like that in the least. That band is over.
Score = -8
wow,a nice departure for sure. wasn't so sure about it at first, but it definitely grew on me with repeated listenings.hope the rest of the album is full of jammy indulgence, i always thought that Walla's production was their biggest asset.
Score = 1
This song is every bland piano ballad from Plans crammed into one.
Hopefully this gets it out of their system and the rest of the album is GOOD.
Score = -3
I liked it, much better than I thought it would be! Honestly, it could have been worse... Is that the actual cover art?!
Score = 1
I love it. The subtle variations in the long build up are great.
Score = 3
Props on knowing what a Phish jam really sounds like. It really is more like this than the endless noodling people assume it to be.
Score = 1
i'm gonna agree with annie onymous. and also..
a reminder that music doesnt ever NEED lyrics to be good. and for those of you that are pissed about it being repetitive, they probably wrote it this way to get the listener into that 'jam' feeling, or almost in a trance like the way their song transatlanticism does. it is an incredible buildup to a beautifully layered song. i absolutely love it.
i'm sure they'll keep up the good work for the rest of the album. can't wait to hear it!
Score = 3
Porcupine Tree anyone?
also, how irritating that something with echoing, rolling bass and piano, needs a 'nahnahnah' bit.
Score = -2
Is this track an April Fool's joke? Miserable DOA effort from these usually more reliable geeks.
Score = -5
i love the song. i can't wait for the new DCFC album :D
Score = 0
Talk Talk, anyone? It had to happen. Life's what you make it.
Score = 0
Comparing this to Talk Talk is an insult to Talk Talk.
Score = 1
This is a good song. You do start to think it's just an instrumental but then Gibbard makes his appearance. I really like where DCFC are heading with this one.
Score = -1
Wow, that is surprisingly fantastic. I mean, I thought I'd like it, but I didn't think I'd like it *that* much. The intro is super amazing.
Score = 0
I dig the song, but to me it sounds a little like "Death Play for Cold Cutie".
Score = -4
coldplay? ive never known anything sound less like coldplay ever. how many 8 and a half minute singles do they have.
Score = 1
song of the year...downright mind blowing.
Score = 0
talk talk
i hear it
also i liked plans
suck it haterz
Score = 1
the lyrics at points sound stalkerish at points, quite unsettling.
"its like a book that is elegantly bound, but in a language you can't read... yet"
Score = 2
the super crazy long intro ultimately seems pointless to me. i suppose the album will give it more context...
Score = 0
Anyone ever heard of Talk Talk?
Score = 0
no
Score = 0
I love it. I think the intro is a bit long, and could be shortened a little, but overall I'm very impressed. I think I'll like it even more when I hear it used in the album, that should have it make a little more sense.
Score = 0
not a fan. he's a better softy than a rob thomas.
Score = -3
I heard it on the radio today and it had the entire intro.
Score = 0
Does the title remind anyone else of Temple of Doom?
http://www.deepsealife.org/possessurheart.jpg
Score = 1
Wow, this is the first Death Cab song I've heard that managed to hold my attention all the way through. It does kinda show up the inadequacies of the rhythm section, though. It's also inspired me to go back and listen to A Storm In Heaven by The Verve, for some reason.
Score = 0
I have the facts and I'm voting yes.
Score = 4
I TRIED to find something I didn't like about this track. Failed miserably. LOVE it. Really different, and damn good.
Score = 1
i liked it quite a bit, but i'm not sure i'll be able to say that after the 100x times i'm bound to hear it.
Score = 0
i have to agree with all of the articles about the new
album; they say that you'll either "love it or hate it".
and these responces make that a fact.
i personally think it's a gutsy endeavour and brilliant.
Score = 0
I like the comment about Amazon... classic
Score = 1
This song is a move for the better. It's definately got me curious for the album, which is sounding better than Plans already. The long intro and repetition is an asset to the song and (as usual) Chris Walla's production is perfect.
Score = 1
Good track. I think this could be a more interesting record than Plans.
Score = 0
The alternative rock station out here in Seattle has been playing a shortened "radio edit" of the song, which is kind of a relief to me...I mean, the song is kind of a gamble, and I thought they had lost it to put out an 8-minute single...so, never fear.
By the way, I like it a lot. Bold move that just might work out.
Score = 0
If you glance at at the tracklist on iTunes, you'll see a radio edit for 'possess.' As for the song itself - without the intro, I like it just fine. I really wish it went somewhere but as far as failed ventures go this is pretty good.
Score = 0
probably a wilco like attempt to express pain through music.
i mean a good majority of you hate the intro.
give it time, it may grow on you.
i disliked the spiders(kidsmoke) intro when i first heard it,
and now i cant get enough of it.
Score = 0
Don't know if anyone said this... but maybe the long intro has something to do with the lyrics? It does take some time, but in the end, you're hooked.
Score = 0
Don't know if anyone said this... but maybe the long intro has something to do with the lyrics? It does take some time, but in the end, you're hooked.
Score = 0