Give Up - Postal Service (The)

The Postal Service's debut album, Give Up, is a collaboration between Seattle-based indie band Death Cab for Cutie front-man Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, of electronica group Dntel, with a little vocal help from Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) and Jen Wood. Over a period of 10 months the two exchanged recordings via post (hence the name), eventually forming this jewel of an album.

Tamborello's dream-like world of multi-layered clicks, ...
...melody-driven, poppy vocals, strong guitar riffs and beautifully sad poetry. It's a combination of styles that you would never put together, but just work so utterly perfectly.

The album fits together as a perfect whole is a bittersweet combination of heartbreak and hope, combined with a romantic and poetic sensibility, alongside a sense of nostalgia and delusion. In many ways it is a very sad, melancholy album, but presented in a ... more

The Postal Service's debut album, Give Up, is a collaboration between Seattle-based indie band Death Cab for Cutie front-man Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, of electronica group Dntel, with a little vocal help from Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) and Jen Wood. Over a period of 10 months the two exchanged recordings via post (hence the name), eventually forming this jewel of an album.

Tamborello's dream-like world of multi-layered clicks, bleeps, and whirring synths are complemented perfectly by Gibbard's wistful, melody-driven, poppy vocals, strong guitar riffs and beautifully sad poetry. It's a combination of styles that you would never put together, but just work so utterly perfectly.

The album fits together as a perfect whole is a bittersweet combination of heartbreak and hope, combined with a romantic and poetic sensibility, alongside a sense of nostalgia and delusion. In many ways it is a very sad, melancholy album, but presented in a poppy, uplifting way: an album of tensions, tension between joy and despair, warmth and coldness, electronica and vocal.

"The District Sleeps Alone Tonight", the opening track on the album, sets the context and the tone for the whole album. Set after the break-up of a long term relationship, it opens with a grinding organ synth and then Gibbard's vocal's come in, defeated, lonely and poignantly sad: "I'll wear my badge... a vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest That tells your new friends I am a visitor here... I am not permanent" and then finally realisation as he sings "I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving."

But before you can become too down about things, you are uplifted by "Such Great Heights", a beautiful, breathless whirl of popping, bouncy synths with romantic melodious vocals. A love song to a partner away on the road, this is a great example of Gibbard's sweet vocals combining seamlessly with the electronic elements. The multi-layered electronic world here make the music feel almost 3D - like an aural kaleidoscope the sounds appear and disappear, replaced by others just as beautiful.

"Sleeping In" is a delicate, sunny, sensual and dreamy track, presenting an idealistic view of the world, gorgeous in its naiveté.

In "Nothing Better" Gibbard is joined by Jenny Lewis, who shares the vocals with him, coming from providing backing vocals for the rest of the album. The song unfolds as a conversation between the ex-couple, with Gibbard delusional over their relationship, proposing marriage and being flatly told "You've had your chance so say goodbye, say goodbye." Lewis' flat delivery of the lines provides a stark contrast to the sweet and highly optimistic vocals of Gibbard, providing a very bittersweet element.

"Recycled Air" is another more relaxed, laid-back track, cleansing and the backdrop really gives an air/breath-like feeling. "I watch the patchwork farms' slow fade into the ocean's arms And from here they can't see me stare The stale taste of recycled air."

"Clark Gable" is just a fantastic piece of songwriting, using film-making as a metaphor for the pretence of relationships and the 'need' that we feel to be in love. "I need you to pretend that we are in love again, and you agreed to."

"We will Become Silhouettes" is yet another great track, the lyrics making explicit our narrator's demise into delusion and possibly depression (although musically the track is very upbeat!). "I've got a cupboard with cans of food, filtered water, and pictures of you and I'm not coming out until this is all over."

"This Place is a Prison" injects a darker, more threatening feel, with menacing low synth sounds growling beneath the almost withdrawn and defeated vocals. This darker feel is felt underlying throughout the rest of the album, in the fast-paced "Brand New Colony", and as the beats overpower the vocals in the final track, "Natural Anthem", in which the increasingly manic beats collide with moody strings in a swirling and intoxicating sound.

I honestly cannot praise this album enough. I'm a huge Death Cab for Cutie fan, so I knew I was on to a winner with Ben Gibbard's sweet vocals, but I've never really 'got' Dntel, so I was dubious as to whether this would really work for me. However, the unexpected combination of styles works so perfectly and the whole album is so well thought out and impeccable produced that it really is a breath of fresh air. With beautiful, deep and throught-provoking, poetic lyrics, this album is a collision of dream and fantasy that improves with every listen.

If you like lo-fi, indie, electronica, Death Cab for Cutie, Dntel, Rilo Kiley, hell, if you like music, you should buy this!

Available at Amazon for only £7.99.
 

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