New Death Cab for Cutie, "Talking Bird (Demo)"

Finally, the fifth song of Death Cab for Cutie's Open Door EP has been posted up on Stereogum.  This is an interesting one, because it's the only one out of the new batch of tunes that technically isn't new.  Its final version made it onto Narrow Staris, and if you are familiar with it, I'm sure you will find this one to be a pleasant departure.  It strips away the steady bass, systematic percussion, and guitar flourishes of the album cut, to leave us with just the voice of frontman Ben Gibbard and . . . that's right, a ukulele.  When I heard a rumor a few months back that the song was originally written on uke, I couldn't picture the instrument being used in a Death Cab for Cutie song.  Upon listening to it, I feel that although this mellower version of the song would not have fit in on Narrow Stairs, it doesn't seem so out-of-character for the band, and it was definitely a nice selection to close this EP.  I strongly recommend that you listen to it here.

Physical copies of the EP will be available on their spring tour stops, starting at their Philadelphia show on April 7th, and in retail stores on April 14th.  Also, like we've been saying all week, the album will be released in digital form online on March 31st, so if you want to be one of the first to own it, you can pre-order it on iTunes from Death Cab's official site.