Death Cab for Cutie have always seemed like a band hoping for a future they have to assume is better than where they are at right now. With their 10th album, Asphalt Meadows, the band thrives in their comfort zone but grapple with the here and now.

There's the rocker "Roman Candles" where the band is "learning to let go," they're living life on the road with "Rand McNally," and yeah, there's still some moments of nostalgia like in the song "Here to Forever" where Ben Gibbard kicks off the song contemplating that everyone in the movie he's watching is probably already dead.

It's a perfect album for the start of fall.