Death Cab for Cutie relinquishes control on ‘Asphalt Meadows’

Asphalt Meadows is Death Cab for Cutie’s most adventurous album in over a decade due in part to an experiment the band tried: Each bandmate had a day to work on a song before handing it off to another member, who could do as they pleased, no strings attached.

In this session, Ben Gibbard and Dave Depper join us to talk about why the result was a resounding success — but probably wouldn’t have been if they were all still in their 20s. Plus, how producer John Congleton was the perfect person for the job, and why anniversary shows aren’t the cash grab you might think they are.