Death Cab For Cutie singer Ben Gibbard releases his first proper solo album, and his hard-bitten fans will be pleased to know that it is only a slight departure from his day job. He also assures us that Former Lives is a “side story, not a new chapter”. Musically, it is reminiscent of ‘00s indie heroes such as The Shins and classic ‘power-pop’ like Big Star. A brief a-cappella track leads into ‘Dream Song’, a strolling and effortless piece of American indie. Lead single ‘Teardrop Windows’, boasting a charmingly self-deprecating video, is refreshingly retro but also manages to breathe new life into the well-trodden indie paradigm. The Aimee Mann-featuring ‘Bigger Than Love’ and ‘Something’s Rattling’ are other highlights, the latter constructed around an old yodelling song. On ‘A Hard One To Know’, Gibbard yearningly sings “you give your love out like an auctioneer”, possibly referring to his recent divorce from Zooey Deschanel. I’d be pretty miserable too.

The only niggle is that too many of its songs soundkind of the same. Other than the downcast ‘Duncan, Where Have You Gone?’, the tracks generally follow the same structure. ‘Oh, Woe’, ‘Broken Yolk In Western Sky’ and ‘Lady Adelaide’ are perky and pleasing but too similar to each other. Though there’s not a huge amount of variety on offer, the charm with which it’s delivered makes this a minor complaint. The tracks are good enough to make Former Lives a chance for Gibbard to claim new fans outside of his existing DCFC converts.

7/10

Words: Ed Biggs