The Postal Service Album: “We Will Become Silhouettes [Maxi Single]”

A band like the Postal Service produces singles easily -- their trip-hop is fresh, sweet and wistful, as well as being wickedly catchy. And Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborell (Dntel) were in top form in the wistful, lyrically weird "We Will Become Silhouettes."

A flowing, strange story-song, "We Will Become Silhouettes" tells what happens when for some reason, the air causes cells to "Divide at an alarming rate until our shells/Simply cannot hold all our insides in,/And that's when we'll explode/(and it won't be a pretty sight)." Interpret that as you will, but the apocalyptic whimsy of it is irresistable.

A new song follows it: "Be Still My Heart," an enchanting little ballad with rapid percussion overlaid with organ and synth. "Nothing Better (Styrofoam Remix)" is a fair remix that is off in some parts (what is with that fizzing noise?) but retains the plaintiveness as the original. And finally there is the laid-back "We Will Become Silhouettes (Matthew Dear's Not Scared Mix)," which is stripped-down and fragile-sounding.

"We Will Become Silhouettes" is a bit of an oddball song, on an album full of songs about loneliness and lost love. Lyrically, it sounds like one of the Flaming Lips' more mainstream songs. Not that that's a bad thing -- it adds a sense of strangeness and fun to Postal Service's debut. It certainly reflects in the cover, with a rather startled-looking young man surrounded by people who are fading away.

This single does a good job of also showing off the kinds of music that Postal Service can do -- the title song is poppy and smooth, while the second is sort of synthy-drummy. What is even better, the remixes are good. Most remixes cloud over what made the song good in the first place, but Postal Service's are well-done.

"We Will Become Silhouettes" is a solid single, especially with the well-done remixes and extra song. It'll probably leave you humming, "And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go..."

The Postal Service always teeters on the edge of being too twee... and _We Will Become Silhouettes_ showcases this fine line. The light glitchiness help leaven Gibbard's lyric, which themselves walk the line of precious and meaningful. "Be Still My Heart" grounds itself with a deeper bassline to counterbalance the sweet, if silly, romantic tendencies. Styrofoam, in his own work, has leaned increasingly on vocalists, and on his mix of "Nothing Better," adds an appealing crunciness to the track. Matthew Dear takes on "We Will Be Become Silhouettes" by stripping out the rhythm except for a click track and filling the background with broken, disembodied voices -- a surprise, considering how much rhythm plays into his own work -- but here, it supplies a nice contrast to the original.

I know ... it's a single. But I love just about everything that The Postal Service puts out. I just wish it were longer. It's wonderful.

again this band really is wonderful. I wish they lived closer and I would love to do their video! Get this one all their death cab & postal service stuff. Plans is still on my player :)

enjoy!

Love

Denny

I ran into this group quite by accident, and what really caught my eye, besides the name of the group, is the art work on

the album. Who did it? I love it. I downloaded Silhouette and District Sleeps Alone from another album and have them

going sort of non-stop.