Benjamin Gibbard - Former Lives (2012)

I used to love Death Cab for Cutie. I mean, really love it. It was definitely among my favourite bands back in mid-00s. And even now, I have to say that Transatlanticism and Plans are phenomenal albums. Then, after these albums, something happened. Death Cab for Cutie had become a household name in the indie rock hall of fame with Plans and then the long-awaited follow-up album Narrow Stairs was a huge disappointment, at least to yours truly. The following albums after that were even worse and I lost all my interest towards the band. So, when I noticed that Ben Gibbard had released his first solo album, my expectations were really low. Then again, I found it in a sale for a couple of pounds, so I thought, hey, let's just give it a go, and I have to say, it was a lot better than I expected. Not Plans or Transatlanticism good, but still a very nice album.

The problem with the late Death Cab albums was that they sounded like they were written for mainstream radio stations and for huge stadium gigs. This is not what I look for in my indie artists. The good thing about Former Lives is that it takes a more intimate approach, which is probably partly explained by the fact that Ben Gibbard is playing most of the instruments by himself and perhaps also the fact that this is the first album since he broke up with Zooey Deschanel. As we all know, as painful as relationship problems may be, they're usually the best thing that can happen to a musical career.

The album starts with what could be called an intro song. Shepherd's Bush Lullaby is a simple acapella song that's under one minute long, but it opens up the album nicely leading to the first actual song Dream Song. This song has a nice bouncy rhythm and even though the overall mood of the song is quite dark, there's nice hopefulness there as well. Teardrop Windows has a wavy, almost nautical style, which kind of reminds me of The Decemberists, another band I was really into around the same time. Bigger Than Love features the fantastic Aimee Mann as a co-vocalist. I like it when two indie rock giants combine their forces. Lily is a proper folk song, which is a nice change from the slightly generic band sound of the rest of the album. Something's Rattling (Cowpoke) has some Mexican style trumpet sounds and picked violins, which kind of remind me of both Calexico and Andrew Bird. Duncan, Where Have You Gone? has a proper Beatles style piano and doubled vocals that sound like they could be from a lost John Lennon solo album. Oh, Woe has a kind of a rockabilly rhythm that became quite well known in Death Cab's later albums. A Hard One to Know has an upbeat tempo and a strange electronic-sounding acoustic guitar that reminds me of the UK singer-songwriter Dave House. Lady Adelaide is a slower-tempo song with an unrushed quality that reminds me of those weekend days when nothing really happens. Broken Yolk in Western Sky has some country sounds, which kind of remind me of Wilco. The album ends with I'm Building a Fire, which is a typical stripped acoustic song by Ben Gibbard. I like how it's ending the album with something that sounds like he's just playing his guitar right next to you in a room.

The music video for Teardrop Windows has a great storyline. It starts with Ben attending a meeting with the record label executive who says that Ben is too normal and in order to sell his record, he should try to be more dangerous, thus interesting. First he tries to break into a warehouse under a surveillance camera, but he just ends up freeing a bunch of people from a fire. Next he tries to get a tattoo saying 'Thug 4 Life', but ends up with a tattoo saying 'Hugs 4 Life' and gets hugs from a bunch of people. Then he tries to attend a reality TV show and pick fights with everyone, but even that just ends up with him reimagining the genre.

Now, I don't think this is the most exciting album out there and in case you're not familiar with Death Cab for Cutie masterpieces, I definitely urge you to listen to those instead of this one, but if you were disappointed with the way Death Cab's career was going after Plans, this is a nice album with at least tiny echoes of the greatness of that band.

Listen to the album on Spotify.