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Death Cab for Cutie Just Announced a New Album

I Built You a Tower will release June 5 on ANTI records. Listen to the first single, “Riptides,” below.

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Death Cab for Cutie announced today the upcoming release of a new album, I Built You a Tower, alongside the release of the first single of the album cycle, “Riptides.”

It’s the band’s first album in four years, and the first since signing to ANTI- records earlier this year. Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard has been on a tear recently, with Death Cab and Postal Service anniversary shows selling out in recent years like it was 2004.

He’s in fine form on this new release, sounding youthful as ever over a synthy new-wave beat. “I’m too tired to talk / I’m too tired to end the war,” Gibbard sings on “Riptides.” “There’s too many riptides in this ocean to proceed.”

Could these “riptides” be the waves of nostalgia that threaten to pull the band back into the past? “The anniversary tours exorcised any nostalgia in our systems,” the band’s Dave Depper explained. “We felt part of this powerful force greater than all of us and went into the studio with a sense of, how can we capture that feeling and put it into something new?”

Gibbard clarifies: “‘Riptides’ is about the challenge of dealing with overwhelming grief as the world around us experiences tragedy and loss on an unfathomable scale,” he said. “And how, when these two elements intertwine themselves in our psyches, it feels utterly paralyzing.”

Whatever, I liked mine better. Watch the official video for “Riptides” below.

Death cab for cutie on tour

Death Cab For Cutie 2026 Tour (opens in a new window)

Death Cab for Cutie announced earlier this year a stretch of summer tour dates with Jay Som, Nation of Language, and Japanese Breakfast.

The run kicks off July 10 in Minneapolis and concludes in Paso Robles, CA on August 7. In between, the band will be cutting a swath through the continental U.S. and Canada, including two nights at LA’s Greek Theatre. View the complete tour routing below.

I Built You A Tower Album Art:

I Built You A Tower Tracklist01. Full of Stars02. Punching The Flowers03. Pep Talk04. I Built You A Tower (a)05. Envy The Birds06. Stone Over Water07. How Heavenly a State08. Trap Door09. Riptides10. The Flavor of Metal11. I Built You A Tower (b)

Death cab for cutie tour dates 2026

05/29 – Denver, CO @ Outside Days07/10 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory *07/11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre *07/12 – Indianapolis, IN @ Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park *07/14 – Cincinnati, OH @ MegaCorp Pavilion *07/15 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion *07/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts ^07/18 – Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC ^07/19 – Toronto, ON @ RBC Amphitheatre ^07/21 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion ^07/22 – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek ^07/24 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre #07/25 – Bentonville, AR @ The Momentary #07/26 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s Stir Cove #07/29 – Sandy, UT @ Sandy Amphitheater #07/31 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre #08/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre #08/03 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre #08/04 – San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square at Petco Park #08/06 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas08/07 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre

* = w/ Jay Som^ = w/ Japanese Breakfast# = w/ Nation of Language

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