Kintsugi (album)

Kintsugi
Studio album by Death Cab for Cutie
Released March 31, 2015
Genre Indie rock, indie pop
Length 45:00
Label Atlantic
Producer Rich Costey
Death Cab for Cutie chronology

Codes and Keys
(2011)		 Kintsugi
(2015)
Singles from Kintsugi
  1. "Black Sun"
    Released: January 26, 2015
  2. "No Room In Frame"
    Released: February 24, 2015
  3. "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive"
    Released: March 8, 2015
  4. "Little Wanderer"
    Released: March 16, 2015

Kintsugi is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released on March 31, 2015, on Atlantic Records. Recorded at Eldorado Recording Studios, in Burbank, California, Kintsugi is produced by Rich Costey, and is the first Death Cab for Cutie album to feature an outside producer.

During the production of the album, lead guitarist and founding member Chris Walla announced that he was leaving the band, though he continued contributing to the recording and creative process as a full member until the album's completion.[1]

Production

The band first hinted that they were working on a follow-up to 2011's Codes and Keys by posting several photos of their studio and recording equipment to Instagram in October 2013.[2][3] In October 2014, the band spoke to Stereogum about their then-untitled eighth album, their experience working with an outside producer, and Walla's departure.[4]

The album title is derived from kintsugi, a type of Japanese art involving fixing broken pottery, and as a philosophy of treating breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.

Release

The album's title, track listing, and artwork were revealed via social media on January 12, 2015, with the song "Black Sun" to be released as the lead single from the album.[5] The songs "Black Sun", "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive", and "No Room in Frame", received their live debut during a performance at The Crocodile in Seattle on January 20, 2015, two months prior to the album's release. Black Sun was officially released on January 26th, 2015, following several weeks of snippets of lyrics being posted on various social media sites and the official website.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 66/100[6]
Review scores
Source Rating
The 405 [7]
AllMusic [8]
Rolling Stone [9]
Drowned in Sound 7/10[10]
Consequence of Sound C–[11]
The Guardian [12]
Slant Magazine [13]
Sputnikmusic [14]
PopMatters 3/10[15]
Chicago Tribune
Exclaim! 7/10[16]
The A.V. Club B+[17]

Kintsugi has received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating determined by a "weighted average" of reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 66, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[6]

In a three and a half out of five star review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic claims: "Most of Kintsugi shimmers upon a gloss constructed out of new wave remnants and faded memories of yacht rock."[8] Writing for Consequence of Sound and giving the album a "C-" rating, Philip Cosores states: "There are moments of radio-ready bliss, a few songs with lyrics that slowly become affecting, a handful of forgettable diversions, and some expected trite, misguided nonsense."[11] Lanre Bakare of The Guardian gave the album three stars out of five and writes: "Sometimes it’s too overwrought and wanders into cliched territory."[12] Writing for Exclaim!, James Smith felt that "Kintsugi...is a return to form for the band," citing an extra dimension added by blending "lush arrangements...with electronic flourishes" though "the band takes these new elements too far, with underwhelming results."[16]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "No Room in Frame"  Gibbard, Harmer 4:05
2. "Black Sun"    4:49
3. "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive"    4:04
4. "Little Wanderer"    4:19
5. "You've Haunted Me All My Life"    4:08
6. "Hold No Guns"    3:03
7. "Everything's a Ceiling"    3:41
8. "Good Help (Is So Hard to Find)"    4:47
9. "El Dorado"    3:38
10. "Ingénue"  Gibbard, McGerr, Walla 4:31
11. "Binary Sea"    4:05
Total length:
 45:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic:[18]

Death Cab for Cutie

Production

Commercial performance

Kintsugi debuted at No. 8 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 56,000 copies in its first week. It's the fourth Death Cab for Cutie album to enter the Billboard 200's top 10.<ref name=billboard4-8-2015">Caulfield, Keith (April 8, 2015). "Wale Rules With Second No. 1 Album, 'Furious 7' Soundtrack Drives to No. 2". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2015.</ref> In Canada, the album debuted at No. 5 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 4,800 copies.[19]

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 21
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 90
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[23] 79
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 73
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[25] 27
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[26] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 73
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 28
US Billboard 200[29] 8
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[30] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 1

Release history

Source: Amazon.com[32]

Region Date Format(s) Label
United States March 31, 2015
Atlantic

References

  1. ↑ Walla, Chris (13 Aug 2014). "Why I'm Leaving Death Cab for Cutie". Retrieved 17 Jan 2015.
  2. ↑ "Paintbrushes. #inthestudio #deathcab". Retrieved 17 Jan 2015.
  3. ↑ "#inthestudio #deathcab". Retrieved 17 Jan 2015.
  4. ↑ Rachel, T. Cole (23 Oct 2014). "Q&A: Death Cab For Cutie Preview Their Final Album With Chris Walla". Retrieved 17 Jan 2015.
  5. ↑ Montgomery, James (12 Jan 2015). "Death Cab for Cutie Reveal Symbolic Title of 'Evocative' New Album". Retrieved 17 Jan 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Metacritic. "Reviews for Kintsugi by Death Cab for Cutie". CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ Jonson, Jennifer (March 30, 2015). "Review: Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi". The 405. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Kintsugi - Death Cab for Cutie - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  9. ↑ Grow, Kory (March 31, 2015). "Ben Gibbard processes a pair of losses with bracing honesty, emotional tunes". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ Moore, Sam (March 25, 2015). "Drowned in Sound Review". drownedinsound.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cosores, Philip (March 27, 2015). "Consequence of Sound Review". Consequenceofsound.net. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bakare, Lanre (March 26, 2015). "Death Cab for Cutie: Kintsugi review". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  13. ↑ Mac, Sam C. (March 28, 2015). "Death Cab for Cutie: Kintsugi - Album Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  14. ↑ Rudy K. (March 31, 2015). "Review: Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ Sawdey, Evan (March 31, 2015). "Death Cab for Cutie: Kintsugi – review". PopMatters. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Smith, James (April 2, 2015). "Death Cab For Cutie - Kintsugi". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ McCown, Alex (March 31, 2015). "Review: On Kintsugi, Death Cab For Cutie regains intimacy and embraces synth flourishes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Kintsugi - Death Cab for Cutie - Credits". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  19. ↑ Cross, Alan (April 9, 2015). "Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 08 April 2015". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Death Cab for Cutie. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Top 40 album-, DVD- és válogatáslemez-lista – 2015. 14. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. LightMedia. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  28. ↑ "2015-04-11 Top 40 UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Death Cab for Cutie. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Death Cab for Cutie. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Death Cab for Cutie. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Death Cab for Cutie: Kintsugi: Music". Amazon.com. ASIN B00SJ9UEGE. Retrieved March 26, 2015.