On the heels of its smash crossover with 2003’s Transatlanticism — and amid the major labels’ indie signing frenzy of the early 2000s — Death Cab for Cutie, which was previously on Barsuk Records, joined Atlantic Records in 2004. It remained there for two decades before inking a deal with ANTI- to release the band’s forthcoming 11th album, I Built You a Tower , in June. When we were opening ourselves up to that possibility [of signing with a major], we had seen some bands that we admired in the years prior wait [roughly] an album too late to sign to a major. We fell into a really great situation with Transatlanticism hitting the way it did and selling hundreds of thousands of copies. We felt that that was the moment to strike. The cultural conversation around indie rock was starting to get louder and louder, and it felt like we were 100% in the right place at the right time.…