the postal service - give up

[sub pop : 2003]

First listening to “Give Up” in 2003 was an eye-opening experience. It sounded like something from the future: super cold and clean and perfect… and still seven years later it is a startlingly original album. The Postal Service is the moniker for the collaboration between Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and the very clever indie-electro producer Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Figurine) who created a modern sonic world made of cut-glass-perfect programmed beats, scattered beeps and blips, and beautifully warm pop melodies. The most recognizable tracks from the album are “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”, “Such Great Heights” and “We Will Become Silhouettes” (which have popped up in iPod commercials, movie trailers, cover recordings, and episodes of Grey’s Anatomy over the years), but the whole of “Give Up” is remarkably beautiful. Gibbard’s lyrics tell bittersweet tales of loss, longing, isolation and love – delivered with his trademark unaffected vocal style; while underneath lie meticulously layered electronic backdrops crafted by Tamborello. This album is one of the great examples of the synthesis between pop songwriting and digital production – technology with a soul.
So worth revisiting.





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