Sometimes it’s hard to spot the line that divides the solo work from band material. That’s very much the case with Ben Gibbard, who lends his distinctive vocal sound to Death Cab For Cutie, and can’t really do anything about the fact that even with a bit of country-rock guitar thrown into the mix his solo material sometimes sounds a bit like a Death Cab studio out-take. Not necessarily in a bad way, you understand, just in a solidly unsurprising way. Fact is, his most arresting non-Death Cab work is the twee-beep of The Postal Service, where he is joined by Jimmy Tamborello and Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis (who might be joining this playlist any day now…).