Is Owl City growing up? I think so.
Owl City is a music project of Adam Young that was started in 2007. Young started his career on MySpace by posting music he had made in his parents' basement in Owatonna, Minnesota. He built himself up from there. Through third-party means like CD Baby (a digital aggregator) he began making his music available on iTunes, therefore making money. Owl City had released a seven-song EP and a full-length album before he was officially signed with Universal Republic. Since then, he has released two more albums and seven singles.
When Owl City rose to fame in late 2009, people compared him to the late American electronic project The Postal Service composed by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. In fact, people considered the two project so similar, they accused Young of stealing Gibbard's "sound". Both Young and Gibbard denied this thievery, but many people still refuse to consider Owl City "professional" music due to this dispute. That being said, Owl City now really sounds nothing like it did back in '09, and I mean that in a very good way. Young has always had a very bouncy, childish sound to his music, and I think a lot of that is fading away as he progresses further in the music industry.
Owl City's new album, The Midsummer Station, is scheduled for release on August 21st, 2012 in the US. However, Young released a four-song EP called Shooting Star on May 15th to show listeners what to expect. It's a pretty big leap for Owl City, as these four songs sound a lot stronger and well put-together as well as more thought-out. The first song, "Shooting Star" starts out somewhat similar to "Fireflies" from 2009 and nearly every other Owl City song ever, but after about 50 seconds, it takes a slight turn in its feel, and by a minute and a half, it sounds like if Katy Perry was a guy.. but I mean that in a good way. The point is, it doesn't sound like the child-like, video game-esque candy world that Adam Young generally lives in. The second track, "Gold", could probably be a OneRepublic song, which is great. If you don't like OneRepublic, then you should probably quit reading this blog.
Just kidding, but seriously.
That's a cool thing for Owl City to do. The third track, "Dementia", is my personal favorite. Honestly, it sounds like a song by The Fold. It also features vocals by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus. What's that? Owl City is using an electric guitar? What's going on in the world? The fourth and final track, "Take It All Away", is freaking depressing. Maybe because Adam Young has always been a happy, oblivious bunny skipping through flower fields, but this song shows a very vulnerable side. "Take It All Away" really shows off Young's impressive lyrical ability, and gives listeners a greater sense of relationship with him. Maybe that's because Matt Thiessen co-wrote it and a few other songs on the upcoming album... Now, for one more song on The Midsummer Station:
If you don't know who this is, then you probably don't know any people under 40, because most of them have Carly Rae Jepsen's single "Call Me Maybe" stuck in their heads. On June 20th, Owl City released a single called "Good Time" to be on The Midsummer Station. He collaborated with Carly Rae Jepsen to make a song that makes me want to pack my things and spend the weekend on a lake with 3,000 friends. I don't have 3,000 friends.
Needless to say, Owl City is taking great strides to become something every fun-loving person will listen to, no matter how hipster or anti-hipster they may be.
The Midsummer Station will be on iTunes and Spotify on August 20th, but I'll give you a full review of the album before then. At this point, I give the album a thumbs up! Now, go tell people stuff!
Happy Listening!
No comments:
Post a Comment