Barcelona, the sparkly new EP from Virginia’s Soft Complex transcends easy genre labeling. Containing three original tracks and their remixes, one could (and this one does) describe the disc as offering the best of Ben Gibbard. Ben who? Why Ben Gibbard, the force behind indie darlings The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie. Like the beloved Portland quartet, Soft Complex explores love, loss and lost love. Taking a quasi-literary apprach, the songs feel like character sketches or monologues—lyrically deft without letting wit trump emotion.

Lead singer, Shane German, audibly brings to mind Morrissey and on occasion, The Cure’s Robert Smith. Instrumentally, the band just stops short of lush with instruments sonically swirling around each other as the steady drum anchors them all. Their remixes echo Gibbard’s other venture by simply being intelligent, danceable music. The guest remixers work with the existing musical ideas—not against or despite them. The result is uptempo pop that is true to its source material while still different enough to be interesting.