More than two decades after the Postal Service’s first — and so far only—album, Give Up, became a surprise platinum-selling hit, Sylvan Esso remixed one of its singles at the group’s request. The duo, which formed a decade after Give Up’s release and has tiptoed in the Postal Service’s footsteps with their approach to electropop and indie rock, has put a new spin on “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.”
Where the Postal Service’s original recording blended glitchy, lo-fi drum machine clapping and angelic vocals, Sylvan Esso’s remix leans more into the synths. Ben Gibbard’s vocals are front and center, with Jenny Lewis’ backups swirling around him. Meanwhile, Jimmy Tamborello’s synths (and likely Sylvan Esso’s keys) drop in and out around the vocals, giving way to a few echoey, dubby moments. The new arrangement gives Gibbard’s introspective revelation, “I was the one worth leaving,” a little more punctuation than on the original.
“I love Sylvan Esso and was excited to hear the song through their ears,” Tamborello said in a statement. “It came out so good, big and tweaky and fun!”
Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn commented on their remix jointly. “‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ was a formative song for both of us,” they said. “Nick remembers hearing the promo copy spooling out of his car speakers while he delivered pizza; Amelia remembers hearing it in the back of someone’s van during her freshman lunch hour. Both of us thought the song touched something new then — and to be asked to reinterpret it now is an honor.”
The remix arrives as the Postal Service set out on a tour of Europe with Gibbard’s other band, Death Cab for Cutie, to commemorate the 21st anniversaries of Give Up and Death Cab’s Transatlanticism. The bands kicked off the tour last year in the States, commemorating the 20th, with dates at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl, among other storied venues.
