When working in the busy city centre, the one thing that annoys me, apart from the odd irritating, arragant and stupid customer, is the fact that everybody else is out enjoying the mild and gentle warmth of the sunny weather that usually creeps in during these iffy few months between spring and summer. So, when a day off comes around, it means that I am free to immerse myself in the smiling atmosphere outside the window.
Instead of making my way down the bustling high street, where it appears people don't seem to understand manners and lesirely disregard any emotion for other people on a hot day, I head for the countryside where everything seems calmer and easier. Once there, everything comes together in a beautiful mess, and one finds time to reflect and appriciate the very essence of everything around. Of course, this could all be the result of a phenomenal smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich eaten hours earlier which really, and I mean really hit the right spot!!
However, here are a few albums that seem to always soundtrack these moments for me as I feel they all encapsulate that sensation of introspection, and at the same time, complete abandonment!
Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie
I don't know what it is but whenever I hear anything by Death Cab For Cutie, it calms me, and at the same time slips me into a state of blissful introspection. When listening to any of thier albums, one notices how vocalist Ben Gibbard lyrics are often full of emotional and lustful imagery. They are also rich in allagory and are poetic as they flow with a strong sense of regret, loss, but also optamism. Their most recent release, 2008's 'Narrow Stairs' contains all these elements, but losses the delicacy of the lyrics to extensive instrumental work (which isn't all that bad in itself). Despite this, the album remains a key piece for the Washington band and demands a listen. But it is the band's 2003 release that is a truely beautiful work. 'Transatlanticism' fires off sparks from the ambitious opener 'The New Year' which speaks of loss and the feeling that nothing has changed. This resonsates throught the album, injecting into tracks inclusing 'Tiny Vessels'; a meloncoly sway where Gibbard tells the story of leaving somebody. Another track where this is present, 'We Looked Like Giants', is a remeniscent description of young lovers, which instrumentally builds from a gentle introduction, through the fast paced central story, to conclude with a repeat of the chorus, "Oh together there, in a shroud of frost, the mountain air, began to pass, through every pane of weathered glass, and I held you closer....", which is drenched in a soft and peaceful refrain. Other key moments on the record include 'Title And Registration' which acts as a pop-like stomp for the record, and the epic centerpiece narrative of 'Transatlanticism'. The real poeticly tinged point of the album comes with 'Passenger Seat', which in its piano based simplicity encapsulates the feeling of introspection, and completely letting go, which fits the atmosphere perfectly. The album climaxes at 'Lack Of Colour', an allagoras lyrical piece where Gibbard explains how losing colour of ones perspective is like losing a lover. The track offers a more gentle and relaxing rythem, that in turn gives the album a calming, and yet emotional end. I personally consider this to be Death Cab For Cutie's fullest work, due to it's moments of delicate pain and emotion, and the times where it rises to an outburst of raw feeling.
By Ben Hawling
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