By Caroline English
Correspondent
The Postal Service has always been the leprechaun of the indie music word. They appeared once, creating the cult classic album Give Up in 2003 and were not seen again until Feb. 11 when they released a new song, “A Tattered Line of String.”
The Postal Service consists of a dream indie line-up with lead man Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset and vocal support from Jenny Lewis, solo artist and lead singer of Rilo Kiley.
“FYI, the new PS single is 1 of 2 new songs included with the Give Up reissue. Will be avail as separate downloads. Never a new full-length,” Gibbard said on his Twitter account after releasing “A Tattered Line of String.”
The 2003 album Give Up will be reissued on April 9 with 15 bonus tracks and two new songs, “Turn Around” and “A Tattered Line of String,” with the entire original line up, including Lewis. Pre-orders have already begun.
Give Up was produced by Tamborello and acclaimed producer and guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie, Chris Walla.
Walla has an impressive list of albums he has produced, such as all of Death Cab for Cutie’s albums and EPs, Tegan and Sara’s popular albums The Con and Sainthood, various albums by the Decemberists and Ra Ra Riot’s The Orchard, amongst many others. Many songs on Give Up have been featured in advertisements for UPS, as well as on television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy. The track “Such Great Heights,” was covered by fellow indie band Iron and Wine and was on the Garden State soundtrack.
“It was 10 years ago today that Give Up was released. Thank you to everyone who brought our imaginary band into their lives,” Gibbard said.
The band’s name was decided from the process in which Give Up was produced. Tamborello and Gibbard, living far apart at the time, would collaborate by sending each other demos through the United States Postal Service.
Tamborello would send Gibbard instrumentals, Gibbard would edit, add vocals and finally send them back to Tamborello who would have his neighbor, Lewis, add backing vocals to the tracks.
Give Up is currently available, but the deluxe 10 Anniversary Edition boasts 2xCD or 3xLP.
The band will also be playing various shows through Europe and the United States. The band will be in New York on Friday, June 14 and Philadelphia on Monday, June 17.
