Four years before Dumb Luck, Jimmy Tamborello found massive success as one half of indietronic darlings the Postal Service (the other half, of course, being Death Cab For Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard).

And when I heard that the other guy from the Postal Service was releasing a record, I promise you that I wasn’t the only person who bought it without hearing anything he had done on his own before.

All I knew was that I liked Death Cab, I liked the Postal Service, and I liked the elements of the Postal Service that weren’t to be found in Gibbard’s band (namely, gentle electronics and synthesized atmospheres).

And remarkably, Postal Service – Ben Gibbard = Dntel isn’t too simplified of a formula. Dumb Luck is essentially Give Up with less pop sensibility, more glitch, and more emphasis on the atmosphere the song exists in than the song itself.

Strangely, there’s also more acoustic guitar, but it’s tied to keyboards and electronic drums. Tamborello also sticks to his Postal Service method of writing. With the exception of the opener, each song features a guest vocalist (including Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste, Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst), each credited with writing the lyrics of the track.

And to be honest, the results are as scattered as you’d expect. But remarkably, Tamborello’s beatmaking and synthweaving ties everything together in such a way that neither the slow shuffle of Mia Doi Todd’s “Rock My Boat” nor Jenny Lewis’ bouncy electro-country “Roll On” doesn’t feel out of place on a record with the awkward bending synths on Conor Oberst’s “Breakfast In Bed“. Not that it’s a flawed record–the album definitely takes a bit of a dip towards the end, before ending with the gentle haze of “Dreams” (before it turns a little nightmarish in the last couple minutes), which is a highlight among highlights–but it’s an excellent one, and a definite payoff for anyone who bought it on the strength of Give Up.