It's the way of the Dark Side.
An outfit change. An expensive hair cut. Perhaps some dance lessons, or certainly the introduction of a stylist. It's the moment when bands cease to be themselves - a solid, autonomous force - and start to become something quite different.
It's a moment which is enshrined in rock iconography, and one Ben Gibbard has decided to send up in his new window. 'Teardrop Windows' is a deeply autobiographical piece of songwriting, as carefully hewn as it is tender.
The video, though, is played entirely for laughs. Seated with a label executive, Ben Gibbard is accused of looking 'normal' and undergoes a radically transformation. With the singer perfectly cast as the straight man amid the chaos around him, it's a clip which ends - like all things should - with a heart hug.
Just sign on the dotted line...
- - -
Ben Gibbard is set to play the following show:
December |
3 London Union Chapel
