Unfortunately with Narrow Stairs I was expecting an epic album, and what I received was an album that was struggling between epic and old-school, but never quite hitting the target on either one of those. Some albums flow effortlessly, and at every song change you’re sad the last has finished but excited about the next. I actually skipped some songs halfway because I thought I might fall asleep at the wheel, which is a disgrace to my patience but also a sign of an unequal album. Slow languid songs populate the beginning of Narrow Stairs while more energetic pieces pick it up on the second half. In my opinion the second half songs are the ones that show the interesting change in the sound of Death Cab, so hopefully they’ll embrace that even more on a next album. What came as a surprise to me was the lack of lyrical complexity.  That spark that Ben Gibbard can infuse with his lyrics wasn’t shining as brightly.  But for now I will take what I can get, and enjoy it all.

In “Your New Twin-Sized Bed” Death Cab produces a refreshing beat they haven’t done on a previous album. It has this nice groove that is smoothed out by Ben Gibbard’s relaxing vocals. I love ironic songs when happier beats collide with sad subjects, and this song illustrates that perfectly as it portrays the defeat of loneliness in the form of a twin bed all set to a summery beat.

You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed
With a single pillow underneath your single head
I guess you decided that that old queen was more space than you would need
Now it’s in the alley behind your apartment with a sign that says it’s free (lyrics)

Death Cab – Your New Twin Sized Bed

And if that’s not enough Death Cab for you, Ben Gibbard did an interesting article for Paste on the meaning of life (and he did not conclude it to be 42) in which he lived life in the shoes of Jack Kerouac.