Man, this is disappointing. There’s just something with his timbre and phrasing nowadays that is so forced and so unlike what he did ten years ago.

I wonder if this thin and strained version of Gibbards voice that he has been gracing all these (object/place-as-a-metaphor-for-love driven) songs with since Plans was actually a product of him quitting smoking all along.

I fear the good old soft, breathy tenor that was such an instrumental part of the appeal of for example Give Up and Transatlanticism is forever gone.

We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes – that record will forever hold a special place in my heart. There’s really nothing like it.