Ben Gibbard is busy these days. Death Cab For Cutie and the Postal Service are still playing gigs together, sometimes headlining festivals. In the past few months, Gibbard also sang the National Anthem at the Mariners’ opening day game, got emotional in the Criterion Closet, and guested on Toro Y Moi’s “Hollywood.” Now, Gibbard has lent his voice to a new track from Natalie Lew, the Seattle singer-songwriter who records as Sea Lemon.

Natalie Lew and Ben Gibbard met up when both artists played a Seattle benefit show and Gibbard asked Lew if she wanted to duet. Today, Sea Lemon has released the shimmering fuzz-pop jam “Crystals,” which has some of the misty dreaminess that Death Cab had back in the ’90s. Here’s what Lew says about the song:

“Crystals” was written after I attempted “manifesting” for a good portion of 2023 and found myself feeling really lackluster about the whole process. I wrote most of the song after coming to this realization that “manifesting,” or looking for signs in nature or everyday life, is mostly just a coping mechanism to get by day to day. When Ben came on and wrote his verse, I loved his added angle –rather than attempting lighter coping mechanisms, just submitting oneself to being upset and living in that darkness for a while can be a way to cope in and of itself.

Ben’s contribution to this song is so exciting for me to say the least; as a huge Death Cab fan growing up, Ben’s songwriting has inspired me since I got interested in songwriting myself.

Check it out below.

“Crystals” is out now on Luminelle.