The Postal Service Share New Sylvan Esso Remix Of ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ Via Sub Pop

The Postal Service | Photo credit: Autumn de Wilde

Today, The Postal Service have shared a brand-new remix of their fan-favourite track ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ by multi-GRAMMY Award nominated electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso.

The track - which is taken from the band’s critically acclaimed album Give Up - comes ahead of their extended 20th anniversary co-headline ‘Give Up Transatlanticism’ tour with Death Cab for Cutie. This extraordinary live run celebrates the 20th anniversaries of each band’s seminal 2003 album, The Postal Service’s RIAA Platinum-certified Give Up and Death Cab for Cutie’s RIAA Platinum-certified breakthrough fourth studio LP Transatlanticism – two classics released within a mere eight months of one another, and created with a total recording budget of just $20k.

Speaking on the remix – which is released via Sub Pop - The Postal Service’s Jimmy Tamborello says, “I love Sylvan Esso and was excited to hear the song through their ears. It came out so good, big and tweaky and fun!”

Speaking on being asked to reimagine the track, Sylvan Esso say, “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight was a formative song for both of us, 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 honour.”

Listen to ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Sylvan Esso Remix)’ here

This week’s highly anticipated live dates include shows in Glasgow, Cardiff, and Barcelona (tickets available here), as well as their co-headline show at London’s All Points East (ft. The Decemberists, Yo La Tengo, Phoenix, The Lemon Twigs, Sleater-Kinney, Teenage Fanclub, Gossip + more) on 25th August, as well as Kalorama in Madrid, Spain, and Meo Kalorama in Lisbon, Portugal. Full dates outlined below. Support at the Glasgow and Cardiff dates comes from Teenage Fanclub and from The Kills in Barcelona.

The extension comes in response to massive demand from fans, following the joint tour’s critically acclaimed and wildly-successful US 2023 dates. That run was entirely sold-out and included back-to-back shows at NYC’s Madison Square Garden, three nights at LA’s Hollywood Bowl, and marquee dates in many other major cities – bringing 250k+ fans together at iconic arenas and amphitheaters across the US.

Benjamin Gibbard, co-founder of both bands, will continue to pull double duty on the 2024 dates, performing Give Up and Transatlanticism in full alongside his respective bandmates. “Few musicians have released two culture-shifting records in the span of a single year,” Pitchfork proclaimed within their glowing review of this fall’s first MSG show, “and even less have done it with two different musical outfits.”

“I know for a fact I will never have a year again like 2003. The Postal Service record came out, Transatlanticism came out. These two records will be on my tombstone, and I’m totally fine with that. I’ve never had a more creatively inspired year.” – Benjamin Gibbard

Ben also recently spoke with The Guardian for a career-spanning piece ahead of the live dates. Take a read here.

The Postal Service is comprised of Gibbard, Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis; Death Cab for Cutie is comprised of Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Dave Depper, Zac Rae, and Jason McGerr. All upcoming tour dates are enclosed below.

The Postal Service x Death Cab for Cutie | Co-headline UK / EU Tour Dates

AUGUST

23 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro*
24 – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena*
25 – London, UK – All Points East Festival
27 – Barcelona, ES – Poble Espanyol^
29 – Madrid, ES – Kalorama Madrid
30 – Lisbon, PT – Meo Kalorama

*with special guest Teenage Fanclub
^with special guest The Kills

Limited guestlist available upon request

Selected Press for 2023’s ‘Give Up Transatlanticism’ tour:

“The Death Cab/Postal Service Tour Is Peak Millennial Nostalgia, in the Best Way” – PITCHFORK

“...a once-in-a-lifetime experience for indieheads.” – ALT PRESS

“It felt miraculous that the music sounded like a straight rip from my iPod, the steady climb of guitar and drums on “Transatlanticism” reaching the same sublime, deafening levels live.” – NYLON

“Dream Double Bill” – VARIETY

“...Gibbard’s longevity outshines many of his peers from that era, and the number of people that still pack large venues around the country to hear them only bolsters that take.” – UPROXX

“As soon as Death Cab walked onstage and Gibbard launched into singing “So this is the new year,” it was obvious the emotional resonance of this material was as strong as ever.” – STEREOGUM

Formed in Bellingham, WA in 1997, Death Cab for Cutie immediately entered the ranks of the era’s most definitive bands, thanks in large part to the remarkable power of co-founder, vocalist, guitarist, and lead songwriter Ben Gibbard’s complex, often bittersweet songcraft. The band made their worldwide popular breakthrough with 2003’s RIAA Platinum-certified Transatlanticism, later named by NPR as one of “The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings.” Fueled by critical acclaim, an array of high profile soundtrack placements, and such hit singles as ‘The Sound of Settling’ and ‘Title and Registration,’ the album debuted among the upper half of the Billboard 200 – Death Cab for Cutie’s first ever entry on the overall chart. A 10th anniversary edition of Transatlanticism containing previously unheard demos and outtakes arrived in 2013, prompting NPR to write, “For all its ubiquity and imitators, Transatlanticism holds up as an exquisitely produced, largely flawless record in which every song is bound to serve as someone’s favorite.”

2003 also saw Gibbard and Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Figurine) unite as The Postal Service, a long distance collaboration named for their working method of exchanging tracks via the US Mail. The duo – joined by a number of friends including singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis – proved a phenomenon with the February 2003 release of their one and only studio LP, Give Up, earning worldwide applause and eventual RIAA Platinum certification thanks to infectious electro-pop smashes like ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ (a top 3 sensation on Billboard’s ‘Hot Dance Singles’ chart), ‘We Will Become Silhouettes’ (which reached the top 3 on the Canadian Singles Chart), and of course, the magical RIAA Gold-certified ‘Such Great Heights.’ The album’s stature continued to grow in the years following its original release, ultimately spending 19 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s ‘Top Electronic Albums’ chart. In 2013, The Postal Service reunited to mark the 10th anniversary of Give Up with their biggest headline tour ever, along with top-billed performances at such international festivals as Coachella, Primavera Sound, Lollapalooza, and Sasquatch. In addition, a commemorative 10th anniversary edition of Give Up saw the singular collection expanded with 15 bonus tracks, including two brand new songs, ‘A Tattered Line of String’ and ‘Turn Around.’

Connect with the Postal Service:

Postalservicemusic.net | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

Connect with Death Cab for Cutie:
Deathcabforcutie.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok