Death Cab go down "Narrow Stairs"

Published 9:33 am Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Death Cab for Cutie’s new album, tentatively scheduled for release in May, has got a name: “Narrow Stairs.”

Last week, guitarist and producer Chris Walla spoke with me about the album.

“It’s a heavy record,” he said. “It’s, I think, it’s way less surgical than our previous records. … There’s more of a full band kind of energy about it, rather than a full recording sort of energy about it, if that makes any sense. It’s way more about four people playing in a room, and way less about 16 guitar tracks and lots of overdubs. That’s really the biggest departure in terms of presentation. It’s not, I don’t think, as hi-fi as the last records. I think it’s a little grittier, a little fuzzier on the edges, and some of it is just down right scary.”

While vocalist Ben Gibbard serves as the group’s chief songwriter, Walla said he feels very responsible for shaping the group’s actual sound.

“More than I think I used to believe,” he said. “As we’ve gotten further and further along, too, there’s been more and more about the band sort of giving more control to me, or I’ve taken more on.”

Walla released his first solo album, “Field Manual,” on Tuesday. The album includes the song “Sing Again,” which, lookie there, has a video: