Narrow Stairs

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Narrow Stairs
Narrow Stairs cover
Studio album by Death Cab for Cutie
Released May 12, 2008
Recorded Seattle, United States
Genre Indie rock, alternative rock
Length 44:50
Language English
Label Atlantic, Barsuk
Producer Chris Walla[1]
Professional reviews
Death Cab for Cutie chronology
Plans
(2005)		 Narrow Stairs
(2008)		 The Open Door EP
(2009)
Singles from Narrow Stairs
  1. "I Will Possess Your Heart"
    Released: March 17, 2008
  2. "Cath..."
    Released: July 21, 2008
  3. "No Sunlight"
    Released: November 17, 2008
  4. "Grapevine Fires"
    Released: February 3, 2009

Narrow Stairs is the sixth studio album by alternative rock band Death Cab for Cutie. It was released on May 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom[2] and released on May 13, 2008 in the United States. The first single of the album was "I Will Possess Your Heart", released on March 18, 2008. The second single is "Cath...". The album was their first album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200.

Contents

[edit] Production

In October 2007, Chris Walla, producer and guitarist, said that Death Cab for Cutie's new album "is in full swing; we're six songs in." He went on to say "thus far it's pretty weird and pretty spectacular; lots of blood. It's creepy and heavy... we've got a ten minute long Can jam, and had you suggested that possibility to me in 1998, I'd have eaten your puppy's brain with a spoon."[3] In a Billboard piece, Walla promised a "curve ball" and described the album: "It's really weird. It's really, really good, I think, but it's totally a curve ball, and I think it's gonna be a really polarizing record. But I'm really excited about it. It's really got some teeth. The landscape of the thing is way, way more lunar than the urban meadow sort of thing that has been happening for the last couple of records." Walla went on to say, "[It's also] louder and more dissonant and ... I think abrasive would be a good word to use. [We were influenced by] heavy, sludgy, slow metal [and] synth-punk band Brainiac."[4] Ben Gibbard, lead singer and writer, commented, "I just don't feel like we really have anything to prove of it other than to ourselves and to making a record we really enjoy."[5]

The lead single, "I Will Possess Your Heart" was released on March 18, 2008, and the band released the single on their MySpace page shortly thereafter.[6] The song began radio play on March 24, 2008.

Apple's iTunes music store opened pre-orders for the album on March 19, 2008.

On March 31, a fake version of the album was "leaked" on a music blog and spread to various torrent sites as an April Fool's prank with only "I Will Possess Your Heart" correct of all the Narrow Stairs songs named. The rest of the songs were by German indie band Velveteen, but due to the two bands having a very similar sound, some fans weren't sure at first if the files were in fact fake.[7]

On May 6, 2008 the album was released on iTunes a week early, but was set back to pre-order status the next day.[citation needed]

On December 9, 2008, the album was released on vinyl record.

[edit] Notes

Several of the songs have literary or cultural themes. "Grapevine Fires" appears to be centered around the wildfires that raged in California during the summer and fall of 2007.

"Bixby Canyon Bridge" is rife with references to Jack Kerouac's writing; Gibbard often notes that Kerouac is a favorite author in interviews, and Bixby was written during the artist's recent trip to Big Sur.[8] Gibbard has written lyrics about Kerouac before, including his contribution of lyrics and vocals to a song by Styrofoam titled "Couches in Alleys", and in songs "Lowell, MA" and "Title Track" from Death Cab for Cutie's 2000 album, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes.

Unusually, the tenth song, "Pity and Fear," ends abruptly. In an interview, the band stated that the tape machine they were using broke toward the ending, and they liked the sound it produced so much that they included it in the final version of the song.

The final track on the album, "The Ice Is Getting Thinner," is used in the first season finale of the television series Gossip Girl, as well as in the fourth season of reality series The Hills. The song "No Sunlight" is included in the soundtrack for Choke. "Pity and Fear" was included in the ending of an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The first track, "Bixby Canyon Bridge", was used at the end of the Friday Night Lights episode, "How the Other Side Lives".

[edit] Cover Art

The cover art was created by designer EE Storey, the art director for Tegan and Sara.[9] The original artwork consisted of a photograph from high above the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA. The bridge was covered in fog.[10]

[edit] Critical reception

The album has received mostly positive reviews. MTV's James Montgomery referred to Narrow Stairs as "unquestionably the best thing [Death Cab has] ever done".[11] In another positive review, Rolling Stone called the album "a dark, strangely compelling record that trades the group's bright melancholy for something nearer to despair."[12]

The album has so far been highly rated by critics and fans, having been awarded 4 stars out of 5 by publications such as Rolling Stone, Kerrang!, Spin, Alternative Press, The Times, The Independent and The Guardian, as well as by the website Allmusic.

Time Magazine and Consequence of Sound both awarded the album a "B+" rating, with the AV Club giving an "A" rating, while positive reviews have also been given by Mojo, People, The Album Project, Patrol, AbsolutePunk and PopMatters, among several others. It has a rating of 74 on music review aggregator Metacritic.[13] Boston radio station WERS ranked Narrow Stairs as the #8 album of 2008 based on a listener poll.

In its debut week, Narrow Stairs reached the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 144,000 copies and scoring the band its first #1 album. One week later it fell to #5 with 52,000 copies. As of January 31, 2009, the album has sold over 475,000 copies in the US.

Narrow Stairs was nominated for the "Best Alternative Music Album" award at the 51st Grammy Awards. In addition, "I Will Possess Your Heart" was nominated for "Best Rock Song".[14]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Ben Gibbard except where noted.

  1. "Bixby Canyon Bridge" – 5:15
  2. "I Will Possess Your Heart" (Gibbard, Harmer, McGerr, Walla) – 8:35
  3. "No Sunlight" (Gibbard, Walla) – 2:40
  4. "Cath..." – 3:50
  5. "Talking Bird" – 3:23
  6. "You Can Do Better Than Me" – 1:59
  7. "Grapevine Fires" (Gibbard, Harmer, McGerr) – 4:09
  8. "Your New Twin Sized Bed" (Gibbard, Harmer) – 3:06
  9. "Long Division" (Gibbard, Harmer, Walla) – 3:50
  10. "Pity and Fear" – 4:21
  11. "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" (Gibbard, Walla) – 3:45
iTunes Store bonus tracks
  1. "I Will Possess Your Heart" (Radio Edit) – 4:08
  2. "Album Credits (As Read by Mike West)" – 2:51
  3. "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" (Demo) – 3:30
  4. "No Sunlight" (Demo) – 3:25

The latter two demos were also included on the vinyl LP edition of the album.

[edit] Personnel

Death Cab for Cutie
Production

[edit] Sales chart performance

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Swedish Albums Chart 16
UK Albums Chart 24
U.S. Billboard 200[15][16] 1
Australian ARIA Albums Chart 6[17]

[edit] Release history

The album was initially released on May 12, 2008[2] in the United Kingdom and on the following date in the United States.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Death Cab For Cutie Mount Narrow Stairs". chartattack.com. http://www.chartattack.com/news/53286/death-cab-for-cutie-mount-narrow-stairs. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  2. ^ a b "Death Cab For Cutie Announce UK Shows". XFM. http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2008/death-cab-for-cutie-announce-uk-shows-. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  3. ^ » Death Cab for Cutie: “We’re six songs in.” :: Puddlegum ::
  4. ^ Punknews.org | Death Cab for Cutie promises louder, abrasive, dissonant new album
  5. ^ YouTube - making of the new album
  6. ^ "Death Cab for Cutie on MySpace". MySpace.com. http://www.myspace.com/deathcabforcutie. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  7. ^ "Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs Has Leaked? April Fools!". MTV Asia. http://www.mtvasia.com/News/200804/04015648.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  8. ^ Ben Gibbard Turns To Kerouac As Inspiration For New Death Cab for Cutie Album : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily
  9. ^ "New Album for Death Cab for Cutie". eFluxMedia. 2008-05-13. http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_New_Album_for_Death_Cab_for_Cutie_17512.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-13. 
  10. ^ http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=309048&page=2
  11. ^ James Montgomery. "Death Cab For Cutie Make The Leap With Narrow Stairs, In Bigger Than The Sound". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1582775/20080304/death_cab_for_cutie.jhtml. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  12. ^ Will Hermes. "Narrow Stairs review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/20524296/review/20532998/narrow_stairs. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. 
  13. ^ "Metacritic rating". http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/deathcabforcutie/narrowstairs. Retrieved on 2008-06-14. 
  14. ^ "51st Grammy Awards". Grammy.com. http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/51st_show/list.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-12-04. 
  15. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2008-05-21). "Cab Cruises, Sinatra's Strong, Warner Rules". Billboard magazine. http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/charts/chart_alert/e3i0a20bf2d051d830ece0e7e91d389b7cb. Retrieved on 2008-05-21. 
  16. ^ Hasty, Katy (2008-05-21). "Death Cab For Cutie Scores First No. 1 Album". Billboard magazine. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003806082. Retrieved on 2008-05-21. 
  17. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_album.asp?chart=1G50. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
Preceded by
Home Before Dark by Neil Diamond		 Billboard 200 number-one album
May 25–31, 2008		 Succeeded by
3 Doors Down by 3 Doors Down
v • d • e
Death Cab for Cutie
Ben Gibbard · Nick Harmer · Jason McGerr · Chris Walla
Nathan Good · Michael Schorr
Albums
Other
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