As an eighties kid, synth pop has been pumping in my blood ever since that first day I turned on my MTV. There’s some debate as to who’s considered a synth pop band and who isn’t. For this September Music Twitter challenge – #SynthPopSeptember – I’m focusing more on what’s considered synth pop, not who. The songs I’m featuring on Mental Jukebox this month aren’t solely composed of synthesizers. There may be drums, bass, and dare I say, electric guitars. But each of these songs were picked because the synthesizer is core to its being.
The Postal Service got its name from the way in which they collaborated from different parts of the country, sending each other tapes with early music sketches and ideas. It might not be the best way to collaborate, but it worked wonders here. Led by Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service only gathered together for one album. But Give Up was a strong showing – and the undisputed anthem is the single, “Such Great Heights”.
With both Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service, Gibbard’s songs have often felt calculated, pensive, yet strangely liberating at the same time. “Such Great Heights” feels like a ticking bomb that could go off at any moment. The smatterings of synth notes and electronic percussion feed into this, but Gibbard’s unusually earnest vocals only create more urgency on the track. “Such Great Heights” takes us to the pinnacle and back.
“And I have to speculate That God Himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay.”