Ben Gibbard on Divorce, Aging, and Breaking Lyrical Habits

Ben Gibbard, frontman of Death Cab for Cutie, discusses his upcoming album "I Built You a Tower," out this month. The album grapples with grief, divorce from photographer Rachel Demy, and the passage of time. Gibbard, who turns fifty this year, wrote over ninety songs over three to four years, finding that he must write more to get less back. He describes compartmentalizing pain during an anniversary tour playing twenty-year-old records while navigating a separation. The album's title reflects the idea of building a container for loss. Gibbard also discusses breaking out of lyrical jails by avoiding overused imagery, with help from bandmate Nick Harmer, his editor for nearly thirty years. He cites influences like Robert Smith and The Cure's "Songs of a Lost World."