With Death Cab For Cutie having just inked a major-label deal with Atlantic, it may be some time before singer Ben Gibbard’s side project, the Postal Service, unveils a new album. To help tide fans over, Sub Pop will on Feb. 8 release a four-song single for the track “We Will Become Silhouettes,” bolstered by the new song “Be Still My Heart” and two remixes.
Styrofoam, the moniker for Belgian electronic artist Arne van Petegem, remixes “Nothing Better,” while Michigan-based act Matthew Dear reworks “Silhouettes.”
The Postal Service recently issued a vinyl edition of its Sub Pop debut “Give Up,” which featured bonus disc of B-sides and remixes, as well as Postal Service covers by the Shins and Iron & Wine. A Sub Pop spokesperson says the label has no plans at present to issuing the vinyl EP on CD.
With sales of more than 401,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, “Give Up” has improbably become Sub Pop’s second-best selling release ever, behind only Nirvana’s “Bleach.” The album has spent 91 weeks on Billboard’ Top Independent Albums chart, where it is currently No. 16.
In addition to traditional retail outlets, “Give Up” can now be purchased via the Web site of the United States Postal Service (USPS). A licensing deal between the parties was struck after the government agency sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sub Pop. The band was allowed to keep its name if it agreed to promote the USPS, and last week performed at the Postmaster General’s national executive conference in Washington, D.C.
Source billboard.com.