Thursday, 8 August 2024

Such Great Heights

Trust Me #76

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

Such Great Heights bubbles into life with a persistent and beautifully bubbling synth riff that is allowed to run for a full 23-second before bass and a slightly distorted beat are slowly introduced. All coming to fruition at 40-seconds as Ben Gibbard begins to sing about being hopelessly head over heels in love.


I am thinking it’s a sign

That the freckles in our eyes

Are mirror images and when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned


Gibbard is a prolific singer-songwriter who began releasing music in 1997 under the moniker Death Cab For Cutie in the form of a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs With Chords. Gibbard seems to have barely paused for breath since!


Included in Ben’s discography are 11 albums with Death Cab For Cutie (which became a band after his cassette release), 5 solo albums (including one that covers Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque in its entirety) and Give Up by The Postal Service.



Gibbard was particularly prolific in 2003 when he released the aforementioned Give Up, the sole album by The Postal Service and Transatlantic by Death Cab For Cutie.


To celebrate the 20th anniversary of these albums, Ben is taking them on the road, including a show at The Hydro in Glasgow. Being such a fan of Teenage Fanclub, Ben has invited the band to support them. Surely he’ll be joining them for a song or two?!


Ben also wrote the absolutely stunning Me & Magdalena (video) for The Monkees 2016 album Good Times, released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band. Norman has covered it several times, so that could potentially be another collaboration at The Hydro?


Anyway, back to Such Great Heights, I remember downloading it on iTunes. I can’t remember how I discovered it. I used to go on iTunes binges as they would cleverly let you listen to 20-30 seconds of the song to entice you to check it out and download if you liked it. So, I think it came from an iTunes binge and I subsequently bought Give Up on CD. 


Such Great Heights has Ben missing the love of his life as she is out on the road. He hopes she hears this song on the radio and it will guide her home.


Official video


The song breaks to a cracking scratchy guitar solo at 2-minutes 31 seconds. It sounds beautifully out of sync in comparison to Gibbard’s crystal clear melodic vocal and the sublime synths. Once finished, the slightly distorted beats return for one final run through the chorus and everything slowly fades to leave the synths bubbling away, as per the intro.


There is something about this song that just grabs me; the synth sounds, heart on sleeve declaration of love, Gibbard's vocals, the beats and guitar .... it all combines gloriously. Interestingly, the band/project name came through Ben's collaborator Jimmy Tamborello writing and recording instrumentals and sending them to Gibbard as DAT's via post. Gibbard would edit and add vocals and then post them back. Jenny Lewis also came into the project and became an official member of the band.


Such Great Heights is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE 

Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton
1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells
2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond
3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell
4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot
5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras
7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans
8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland
9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave
10. Sometimes by James
11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time
12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre
13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields
14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals
15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser
16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes
17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth
18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter
19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground
20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub
21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub
23. Belfast by Orbital
24. Clouds by The Jayhawks
25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral
26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair
27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones
29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze
29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells
30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor
31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton
32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich
33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem
34. Mondo 77 by Looper
35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats
37. How High by The Charlatans
38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands
39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.
40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective
41. There She Goes by The Las
42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes
43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo
44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell
45. Revolution by The Beatles
46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays
48. American Trilogy by The Delgados
49. Loser by Beck 
50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy
51. Comedy by Shack
52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven
53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr
54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels
55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized
56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds
57. Cannonball by The Breeders
58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
59. You Make Me Weak At The Knees by Electrelane
60. Lucky by Radiohead
61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.
61. I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell
62. Like A Ship (Without A Sail) by Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir
63. Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations
64. Made of Stone by The Stone Roses
65. Tonight In Belfast by Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen and Mike Garry
66. Anything by Adrianne Lenker
67. I Hold Something In My Hand by Bill Ryder-Jones
68. I Meant Every Word by Burnett Sisters
69. Dream Baby Dream by Suicide
70. Stove by The Lemonheads
71. Red Lady by Phil Cordell
72. Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb
73. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart by Taylor Swift
74. Turnin' My Heartbeat Up by The M.V.P.'s
75. Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura


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