Death Cab for Cutie Announce Intimate LA Album Show

By Johnny Bell | May 30, 2026 | 2 min read

Death Cab for Cutie are doing something really cool before they hit the road this summer. On Tuesday, June 2, the band will take over Sid The Cat Auditorium in South Pasadena, CA for an intimate, phone-free show where they'll perform their upcoming album I Built You a Tower in its entirety, plus some older material. Yondr pouches, no transfers, just you and the music. This is the kind of show people talk about for years.

Tickets went on sale Friday, May 29 at 12 PM PST and are priced at $101.56. Doors open at 7 PM with the show starting at 8 PM. If you're anywhere near LA and you can get your hands on a ticket, do not hesitate. A room this small with a band this good playing a brand new record front to back? That's a rare thing.

A New Album on a New (Old) Home

I Built You a Tower is Death Cab's 11th studio album and it arrives June 5, 2026 via ANTI- Records. That label move is significant. The band spent over 20 years releasing music through Atlantic Records, so this is their first indie label release since Transatlanticism back in 2003. They're joining a roster that includes Tom Waits, Fleet Foxes, MJ Lenderman, and Waxahatchee. Pretty good company.

The record was produced and engineered by John Congleton and came together from just three weeks of sessions at Animal Rites in Los Angeles, with additional recording done at the band members' homes across Seattle, Bellingham, Los Angeles, and Portland. It follows 2022's Asphalt Meadows, which a lot of people considered a real return to form.

Two singles have dropped so far. "Riptides" is about the weight of navigating personal struggles while the world around you is falling apart. Ben Gibbard described it as dealing with "the challenge of dealing with personal struggles as the world around us experiences tragedy and loss on an unfathomable scale." The second single, "Punching the Flowers," is also out now.

Vinyl Variants Worth Knowing About

If you're a vinyl person, there are a few options worth looking at. BrooklynVegan has an exclusive clear purple variant limited to just 500 copies, available for pre-order at the BV shop. The official Death Cab store has a Cotton Candy Splash web-exclusive and a standard 180g black vinyl. You can also grab it on Bandcamp.