Beneath that soft-spoken tenor is someone who's as much an experimentalist as a romantic. Since the late '90s, the frontman of indie-pop darlings Death Cab for Cutie has been just as prolific outside the band: In The Postal Service, his warm croons float effortlessly on Jimmy Tamborello's bubbly, electro-pop production; with All-Time Quarterback, he bridges lo-fi rock with intimate acoustic tales; alongside Jay Farrar, he paints Jack Kerouac's words with wistful bits of twang. He can even play a calming foil to such commanding voices as Feist ("Train Song") and Aimee Mann ("Bigger Than Love").