Death Cab for Cutie’s Codes and Keys Track-by-Track Album Review Death Cab for Cutie may now be destined for different things, as Chris Walla heads off in his own direction after fifteen years with the group. The indie rock band is now wrapping up their eighth album, which is expected to be released sometime early in 2015. Their last album, Codes and Keys, was released in 2011, and explored new sounds for Death Cab for Cutie. Codes and Keys differs from the guitar-laden 2008 album Narrow Stars in that it takes advantage of Ben Gibbard’s electronic abilities while still maintaining that lachrymose tinge Death Cab is known for. 1. "Home Is A Fire" opens the album with a hectic and percussion-heavy beat, driving the song forward. The vocals echo and contrast the beat they slowly drip from line to line. …show more content…
"Codes and Keys" is an anthem track as well as the title track, but unlike your typical anthem, this song has strings arranged on it, paired with the solid boom-chuck, boom-chuck-chuck drumbeat. 3. "Some Boys" has a strong chugging bass line courtesy of Nick Harmer, that keeps the song moving forward while Ben Gibbard’s lyrics spooky lyrics “Some boys don’t know how to love” rise up above the instrumentation. This 4. "Doors Unlocked and Open" with more of a classic rock drum beat, and light guitar riff, this track is about new life out west - in California specifically, and paints a perfect picture in your mind of what it feels like to be there. “Isolation… California....” 5. "You Are a Tourist" “When there’s a burning in your heart,” words of someone who is fleeing home for the first
Crossing the Red Sea illustrates the excruciating journey endured by immigrants after fleeing from the aftermath
Throughout the 18 short pieces of the album, each one enveloped by a specific genre and mood, the band alternates between adventurous and prevailing approaches.
Travel is often used as a form of escapism: One leaves the stresses of everyday life to enjoy idyllic moments in a picturesque location. In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, a group of expatriates aim to escape their dissolute life in Paris by traveling to Pamplona for the bullfight fiestas. Hemingway closely connects the scenery and settings of the novel with the emotional well-being of the characters. The desolate city of Paris conveys the aimlessness and emptiness of the expatriates, the sunlit countryside of Bayonne are a flash of meaning and satisfaction for Jake and Bill, while the hectic Pamplona bull fights reflect the unstable relationship among the expatriates. These settings reflect the rapidly shifting psychological state of the characters: They live in dark cycles of aimlessness and immorality marked by overindulgence and alcoholism, with a brief sunrise in periods of self-consciousness and meaning when living moderately. Hemingway comments on the self-destructive nature of excessively hedonistic lifestyles. Rather than
The hostel is depicted as a place of insecurity where the individual identity has been removed and replaced with anonymity and insignificance ‘no one kept count of all the comings and goings’ and ‘arrivals of newcomers in busloads’. The poet also highlights the migrants need to seek out the familiar in people with the same nationality or culture, in search of a place to belong and a link to their former identities by connecting with other migrants, ‘ Nationalities sought each other out instinctively’.
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resorts, and the glitches in the health care system. Kincaid was an established writer for The New Yorker when she wrote this book, and it can be safely assumed that majority of her readers had, at some point in their lives, been tourists. I have been a
With synths so invitingly encompassing, a bass line this fat and charming acapella-esque vocal arrangements via Alexander Giannascoli ((Sandy) Alex G) and Maine, The House strikes the precise, tone-setting chord for what is phenomenal listen through and
The track deals with the aftermath of a death of a friend and the pain that comes with it. With such a personal story like this, an intimate connection between the singer and audience is developed. The lines, “Wishing I was someone else/ Feeling sorry for myself/ And I remembered someone’s kid is dead” hit you with with reality and are possibly the most powerful on the whole record. Some of the tracks make you wonder if the twenty two year old singer songwriter is okay and for me it was “Killer”. The main theme of the song is about the lack of control people have over others and the loneliness felt when feelings are not reciprocated by those we love.
"Softly as if I played piano in the dark / Found a way to channel my anger now to embark / The world's a stage and everybody's got to play their part," raps a manipulated sample from the Outkast song, "ATLiens", setting off the following song, "War Ready", sequentially leading up to the character's suicide. Throughout the EP, we experience the transformation of a broken man into his cocky, confident former self. Each song is filled with a combined sense of uncertainty and anxiety, a product of the expectations and covetousness imposed on him.
The album, Like an Arrow, that the new single is a part of is set to release on October 14th.
This is probably the most obviously dismal track on this list, as it seems to be about the homeless life in America. The song begins, “oh this hurricane’s blowing us thin / this never ending swirl of American sin / where I strayed on my knees to a bottomless cage / where they throw dollar bills and hope to be saved / the poshest scarf on the warmest day / it’s enough to make you give up, she says.” Other lyrics include, “the hardest thing next to diamond rigs / is the coats we have to wear just to make ends meet” and “let’s just lie here as they paint us black.” The song ends with, “the nervous ticks only the holy get / the country treats as the cities get sick / the lunatics and the Harlem tricks / the country treats as we all get
Minh has assumed the roles of both a tourist and tour guide. He travels to the places that he views as rich in opportunities: the attractions. My cousin is in control of his own path, and will strive to understand the way of life of others in those various locations. In embarking on his endeavors, Minh has truly learned to appreciate other cultures, thus expanding the scope of his worldview. There remains one final destination for him to complete his
Opening with the track “Like A Match,” keys, upbeat percussion and fun background vocals make way for a memorable song about showing your love for God so it “burns for the world to see.” The brass section gives a punch, and Mac’s carefree delivery means it is the perfect doorway to the positive and convicting tracks to follow.
As for sound sources, “it’s an R&B song with a medium hip-hop tempo of 104 beats per minute” and there are the bass riffs throughout the whole song, creating a very vibe-on atmosphere. As for the most essential part of the composition of the song – the vocal melody, 3 of them girls successfully conveyed their idea of being sexually attractive to others and confident by making the most of their vocals.
Starting off with a blast of trombone and a shout from one of the girls, you already know this one is going to be a fun-filled song. And after a few lines more, the song undoubtedly packs attitude and a tune to pump up the listeners. There is a heightened feeling in the track highlighted with the girls’ vocals that alternates from fierce, deep delivery into notes belted in pitches octaves higher. It plays above the heavy bass lines, sharp snaps, and trombone blasts. Teaming up with producer and songwriter Harmony Samuels, it seems one of the reasons on why the sound of the track turned out to be reminiscent of the 60s far gone girl groups.
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it” (Rosalia de Castro). It is my belief that the most important experiences in life, are made by the opportunity to travel. Not only does travel come with a great sense of adventure, it allows for you to gain a whole new perspective on life, explore diversity and new cultures, and it provides a chance for you to learn about yourself in a new frame of mind.