Credit: We Are the RhoadsIn the middle of recording the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Kintsugi, guitarist Chris Walla informed the rest of the group that it would be his last album with the band. While the news of a founding member leaving may have surprised fans, frontman Ben Gibbard says the band had known Walla would be leaving "for years."
"I think that, knowing this was something that was coming -- for years, honestly -- there's a particular kind of relief that comes when you know that the outcome that you've expected on the horizon is finally here, and you can finally move on with your life," Gibbard tells DIY magazine.
Walla continued to record Kintsugi after informing his band mates of his departure, officially closing out his tenure with the band in August of last year.
"I'm certainly not overflowing with joy that Chris left the band," Gibbard says. "But at the same time, just having -- finally after all these years -- the catharsis of somebody who's had -- in some ways -- one foot out the door for years, finally leave the band, it comes with a particular sense of relief."
Meanwhile, Death Cab for Cutie will embark on their first full-scale tour without Walla beginning in April. Kintsugi will be released on March 31.
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