Thank You for Today

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Thank You for Today
Clouds seen in a circle with the album's title written inside of it.
Studio album by Death Cab for Cutie
Released August 17, 2018
Studio Santa Monica, California
Genre
Length 38:30
Label Atlantic
Producer Rich Costey
Death Cab for Cutie chronology
Kintsugi
(2015)		 Thank You for Today
(2018)		 The Blue EP
(2019)
Singles from Thank You for Today

Thank You for Today is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie. The album was released on August 17, 2018, on Atlantic Records.

Production and release

The album was produced by Rich Costey, who returns after collaborating with the band on their eighth album, Kintsugi. It is the first Death Cab for Cutie release to not feature Chris Walla since the band's first album, You Can Play These Songs with Chords. The album also marks the first time guitarist/keyboardists Dave Depper and Zac Rae have appeared on a Death Cab for Cutie album, after making their debut recording with the band on the 2016 single "Million Dollar Loan".[citation needed]

The album was announced on June 13, 2018, along with the release of its first single, "Gold Rush".[1] The band also announced a tour to support the album's release, beginning in fall 2018.[2] Two further singles were released from the album prior to its release: "I Dreamt We Spoke Again" and "Autumn Love". On August 13, the album was streamed in full on NPR Music's website.[3] "Gold Rush" was also included in the EA Sports video game FIFA 19.[4]

The album is dedicated to the memory of Scott Hutchison, frontman for the Scottish folk rock band Frightened Rabbit, who died in May 2018.[5] Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard was a friend of Hutchison and an admirer of his songwriting, and the two bands had toured together in 2008.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 69/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[9]
The A.V. Club B−[10]
Entertainment Weekly C+[11]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[12]
The Independent 4/5 stars[13]
NME 3/5 stars[14]
Pitchfork 6.0/10[15]
Q 4/5 stars[16]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[17]
Uncut 7/10[18]

Thank You for Today currently holds a Metacritic score of 69, indicating generally favorable reviews.[8] Madison Desler of Paste Magazine praised the album, describing it as "a fresh take on Death Cab's familiar sound" and "another fine stop in Death Cab's ongoing evolution."[19] The Guardian's Michael Hann was also positive in his four-star review, noting: "The melodies are gorgeous, never overdone but always foregrounded: you would get almost nothing from the individual elements, from the bass, the guitar, the keyboards and the voice, but they add up to much more than the sum of their parts."[12]

Other reviews were more mixed in their reception, such as Pitchfork's Larry Fitzmaurice. His review acknowledged that while Thank You for Today was "the strongest Death Cab album of the 2010s," he also described that title as "a dubious achievement" and noted "there’s moments that suggest Gibbard and the rest of Death Cab are still struggling through the beige malaise that has cast a pall over their more recent work."[15] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Joseph Longo described Thank You for Today as the band's "midlife crisis record," adding: "...what once exuded cathartic melancholia has now matured into overwrought melodrama."[11]

In a negative review of the album, Tyler Clark from Consequence of Sound criticised the production and the songwriting on the album. Noting that the album is Gibbard's first since he turned 40, Clark says that "without the will or ability to eschew generalities for details, he leaves his anti-gentrification songs undercooked and his middle-aged musings feeling perfunctory and safe."[20]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Ben Gibbard.

No. Title Length
1. "I Dreamt We Spoke Again"   3:04
2. "Summer Years"   4:28
3. "Gold Rush"   4:00
4. "Your Hurricane"   3:18
5. "When We Drive"   3:49
6. "Autumn Love"   4:18
7. "Northern Lights"   3:56
8. "You Moved Away"   3:49
9. "Near/Far"   3:41
10. "60 & Punk"   4:07
Total length:
 38:30

Personnel

Death Cab for Cutie

  • Benjamin Gibbard – lead vocals, backing vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, samples
  • Nick Harmer – bass, backing vocals on "Gold Rush"
  • Jason McGerr – drums, percussion, programming
  • Dave Depper – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Zac Rae – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals on "Gold Rush"

Additional personnel

  • Lauren Mayberry – additional vocals on "Northern Lights"
  • Rich Costey – production

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 55
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 73
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[24] 44
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 21
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[26] 62
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 53
Irish Albums (IRMA)[28] 57
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29] 140
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 14
Swedish Vinyl Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 7
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[32] 56
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 44
UK Albums (OCC)[34] 24
US Billboard 200[35] 13

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Death Cab for Cutie. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
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