If 'Transatlanticism' was an inhale, 'Plans' is the exhale,” says Jason McGerr, drummer of the up-and-coming Death Cab for Cutie. “Plans” is their sixth album and conveys imaginative lyrics, with enthralling guitar and piano music.

“Plans” opens with front-man Benjamin Gibbard singing, “If I could open my arms/and span the length of the isle of Manhattan/I'd bring it to where you are/making a lake of the East River and Hudson.” This gives you a handle on his picture-painting lyrics that will linger in your mind.

Most of these songs are created with the talent of Nicholas Harmer' s jaunty bass lines, Jason McGerr's pulsating beat on the drums, and Christopher Walla' s fervid guitar and harmonic voice, while Ben Gibbard sings lead and plays guitar.

The album's eleven songs are all written by Gibbard, Walla or Harmer. Many are about love gone bad but are optimistic and buoyant while still maintaining a central idea that is innovative and clever.

In “What Sarah Said,” many of the ideas from the other songs are summed up when Gibbard sings, “And it came to me then that every plan/Is a tiny prayer to Father Time.”

Whatever makes this album so incredible, whether the mellow drum, the enticing harmonies, or the poetic lyrics, it has certainly met my standards and I would recommend it to anyone.