Listen: Death Cab for Cutie return with 'Roman Candles', the premiere single from upcoming album Asphalt Meadows

Indie legends Death Cab for Cutie have released a new single 'Roman Candles' to announce their forthcoming album Asphalt Meadows. The record will arrive September 16 to become the band's 10th studio album. The song comes accompanied by an official lyric video designed by Juliet Bryant - watch it below.

The track comes from co-founder Benjamin Gibbard’s determination to create something succinct, loud, and strikingly direct. He shares: “The lyrics were cobbled from a couple of different songs dealing with my general sense of anxiety; the feeling that the fabric that weaves a functioning society together was crumbling during the pandemic.

‘Roman Candles’ is about the crippling, existential dread that goes hand in hand with living in a nervous city on a dying planet. And that the only way to be in the moment is to let it all go.”

As with the forthcoming album in its entirety, 'Roman Candles' was produced by Grammy Award-winner John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Wallows).

Also unveiled today is a wide-ranging US headline tour to celebrate the arrival of Asphalt Meadows with a general sale beginning Friday, May 20.

Their preceding studio album Thank You for Today was released in 2018. In it, the band entered its second decade by both expanding and refining its signature sound, with highlights including lead single, “Gold Rush,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s “Adult Alternative Songs” chart.

Recently, Gibbard presented a series of “Live From Home” livestreams throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping raise over $250K in donations and supplies for various Seattle-area relief organisations. The livestreams – which showcased songs from Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service and his solo material, along with covers and other surprises – drew over 4.5 million total views.

Formed in Bellingham, WA in 1997, Death Cab for Cutie almost immediately entered the ranks of the era’s definitive bands. The band made their worldwide popular breakthrough with 2003’s gold certified Transatlanticism, later named by NPR as one of “The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings.” In their 25 year career, they have brought in eight Grammy nominations.

Watch the 'Roman Candles' lyrics video below, designed by Juliet Bryant.