Adam Young, the fellow behind chart-topping electro-pop act Owl City, has been hearing the Postal Service comparisons ever since his “Fireflies” broke. (See Vulture’s no-holds-barred investigation into the combative topic here.) But with Sky Sailing — a new side project from Young that’s just been announced via a bare-bones MySpace page featuring a few demos, photos, and a multipurpose influence list (Dreamscapes, surrealism, Oreos, Jesus) — the guy has added a new wrinkle to his odd Ben Gibbard homage. Take a few listens to Sky Sailing’s “Brielle” and “I Live Alone,” featuring those familiar Gibbard-esque cadences, only dropped over slow acoustic guitars instead of bleepy snyths. What do they sound like? Well, remember the Garden State soundtrack and Iron and Wine’s plaintive acoustic cover of Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights”? It kind of just sounds like faster, crappier versions of that, right? Compare and contrast below. Surely, Ben Gibbard continues to be honored.
“I Live Alone”