“It’s the ultimate head fuck,” laughs Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, as we catch up with them before they play London’s Meltdown Festival at the request of The Cure‘s Robert Smith. “I still love The Cure more than almost any other band. But they were really truly like the first band that I really loved and felt was mine, you know. At a pivotal time in my life when I was 13, 14 years old.”

He continues: “We were living in a shitty suburban town. You’re much more isolated from culture than kids are today. So discovering them and making them my own meant the world to me. To be living in a world where Robert Smith asks us to play a music festival is huge for us.”

So ingrained in the DNA band is their love of Smith’s approach to effervescent goth-pop, that throughout the making of their upcoming ninth studio album ‘Thank You For Today’ they found themselves seeking a way out of any dead end by asking “What would The Cure do?” The result is one of the most colourful, reflective and life-affirming records of their career.

Watch our video above as we go deep with Gibbard and new member Dave Depper to talk about their latest sonic evolution, the band’s changing line-up, living in Trump’s America, looking back and taking on life, and the tragic loss of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison.

Death Cab release their new album ‘Thank You For Today’ on August 17.

Death Cab For Cutie tour dates and tickets

The band’s upcoming UK and Ireland tour dates are below. Tickets are available here.

January

24 Dublin Olympia Theatre

25 Manchester Albert Hall

26 Glasgow O2 Academy

28 Nottingham Rock City

29 Leeds O2 Academy

30 Bristol O2 Academy

February

1 London Eventim Apollo