Four years since their last album release, Death Cab for Cutie is back. This morning, the lauded indie rock five-piece announced their 11th studio album, I Built You a Tower, arriving June 5 via ANTI- Records, along with the record’s lead single, “Riptides.”

I Built You a Tower is a homecoming of sorts for Death Cab. Having spent the past 20 years at Atlantic Records, the album marks the band’s first indie label release since their 2003 indie classic Transatlanticism. The band recorded their forthcoming offering at Animal Rites in Los Angeles, as well as at the homes of the band members in Seattle, Bellingham, Los Angeles, and Portland.

​On “Riptides,” the band reckons with the exhaustion that comes with living through the times of crisis and strife that can seem ever-present today. “‘Riptides’ is about the challenge of dealing with personal struggles as the world around us experiences tragedy and loss on an unfathomable scale,” frontman Ben Gibbard says. “And how, when these two elements intertwine themselves in our psyches, it feels utterly paralyzing.” The band also released a music video, directed by Jason Lester, in conjunction with the single release.

​In recent years, Gibbard’s past and present have seemed intertwined. In 2023 and 2024, he toured with Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service on co-headlining anniversary tours for Transatlanticism and Give Up, inhabiting songs that had long since settled into legend while standing firmly in the life he has now. That tension animates I Built You a Tower: a record shaped by memory without being trapped by it, reaching back toward the band’s earlier writing and recording instincts while carrying forward the hard-won clarity, craft, and perspective of the years since.

​The band announced a UK/EU Tour for this fall, following their North American tour kicking off this May with openers Jay Som, Japanese Breakfast, Nation of Language, and Lala Lala. “Riptides” is available on all streaming platforms and for purchase. You can pre-order I Built You a Tower here.