When asked to describe Death Cab For Cutie's sixth studio album, Narrow Stairs, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Chris Walla characterizes it as 'having teeth,' and we can't think of a more apt summarization of the disc. While many bands in Death Cab For Cutie's situation would try to recreate the success of hit songs like 'Soul Meets Body' or 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark,' instead the band have crafted the most ambitious and varied album of their career by simply doing what they've been doing since they formed in Bellingham, Washington a decade ago - made a brilliant record that refuses to pander, while stretching the artistic boundaries of what a Death Cab For Cutie record should sound like.

After spending much of 2006 in the midst of a turbulent tour cycle surrounding their RIAA platinum, Grammy-nominated album Plans, the band took a well-deserved break during the first part of 2007. Frontman Ben Gibbard embarked on his first-ever solo tour; guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Chris Walla released a solo album and produced records for acts like Tegan And Sara; drummer Jason McGerr constructed his own recording studio, Two Sticks; and bassist Nick Harmer, as always seems to be the case, worked on various projects. If Plans was a collection of firsts - Death Cab's first album for a major label; the first disc to feature songwriting contributions from someone other than Gibbard; the first Death Cab disc recorded with the same drummer as the one before - Narrow Stairs feels more like home.

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'Narrow Stairs was the title Nick came up with, and I think it lends itself to a lot of the lyrical content,' explains Gibbard when asked about some of the themes of the record. 'It doesn't connate descension or ascension - and I think that by giving it some physical limitations in describing it as narrow, it leaves a lot more open to interpretation.' While subtle details like 'softly snowing televisions' help the listener paint a vivid mental picture, ultimately the characters are the souls of these songs - whether the protagonist is giving away his Queen-sized bed out of desperation or searching under an abandoned bridge for a non-existent revelation.

'If you can't stand in place, you can't tell who's walking away,' Gibbard croons on Narrow Stairs' penultimate track, 'Pity And Fear' - and while that's true, Death Cab For Cutie have taken a giant step forward both creatively and conceptually with this album. While it hasn't been an easy road to get to this point, Death Cab For Cutie insist that more than anything, this next chapter in the band's evolution is due to the fact that they're relating both as individuals and band mates. 'To think that tension is adding to the music isn't true for us,' Gibbard explains, citing notoriously at-odds acts like Fleetwood Mac and Metallica. 'It's easier for us to make good music when we're all relating to each other and getting along.'