Okay, since this is my first music review bear with me please. ;)
Now, a little history. Owl City was recently recommended to me by a good friend; that recommdendation plus the fact that one of my best friends really likes this group and that someone at a forum I'm part of said they have "good sound" made me prepared to like the music. Obviously I did or I probably wouldn't be writing a review on it while listening to the album. ;) I did some research on Owl City {granted, not until after I'd listened to the CD twice} and here's a summary of what I learned. First, Owl City is a recent thing and a one-man project unless on tour. Adam Young, the guy who created Owl City, is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who began experimenting with electronica music in his parents' basement around the year 2007 and would upload his songs to MySpace. In the {apparently} music boom between 2005 and 2009 Owl City became popular. Due to his "viral popularity" Young signed up with Universal Records in 2008. An extended play entitled In June was released in 2007, followed in 2008 by the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. The third release and second full length album, Ocean Eyes, was released in July 2009 and became a chart-topper with three major singles entitled Umbrella Beach, Vanilla Twilight and Fireflies. Tidal Wave became a hit with Christians particularly. The song Fireflies was the most downloaded song on iTunes in America and the 20th most downloaded song in the UK in January 2011.
When on tour {a.k.a. live} Adam Young is joined by Breanne Düren {background vocals/keyboard}, Matthew Decker {drums}, Laura Musten {violin}, Hannah Schroeder {cello}, and Daniel Jorgensen {guitar/vibraphone}. Miss Düren's lovely voice is most noted in the song The Saltwater Room. Relient K has also collaborated with Owl City and vocalist Matt Thiessen from that band can be heard doing the backup vocals in Fireflies. A fourth album entitled All Things Bright and Beautiful was released to iTunes June 2011. Young's Christian faith is evident in his songs, particularly in Galaxies in the above mentioned newly released album. When explaining why the faith-filled song was added to the mix, Young said, "I feel like if I were ever to hide the fact that that’s what’s so important to me, it would be a crime, that I should probably be put in jail for that."
In April 2010 Young was interviewed by Christianity Today; below is a link to the interview which is definitely worth reading:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/adamyoung-april10.html
Now, onto the actual music side of this err, thing I'm writing. ;) Upon recieving the recommendation {and then being reminded of it} I punched Owl City into the search box at my local library and placed a hold on the only CD there: Ocean Eyes. The album has a total of twelve songs: Cave In {4:02}, The Bird and The Worm {3:28}, Hello Seattle {2:47}, Umbrella Beach {3:51}, The Saltwater Room {4:03}, Dental Care {3:11}, Meteor Shower {2:14}, On The Wing {5:01}, Fireflies {3:48}, The Tip of the Iceberg {3:23}, Vanilla Twilight {3:52} and Tidal Wave {3:10}. The songs, particularly Cave In and Dental Care, have a humorous look on life; all have fun lyrics and bouncing beats that make the listener want to dance. Plus, Cave In is a good opening song for the album; it's always a good sign if the album has a good, fun, energetic but not overpowering, attention-grabbing song to open with. Now, while Fireflies is the hit song it isn't my favorite; The Tip of the Iceberg and Tidal Wave are my favorites. The first because it's all about winter and who doesn't love winter with all the snow, ice, storms and such? The second because it is a totally Christian song and so true. About the only song I probably didn't like on the album was Hello Seattle mainly because the beginning notes remind me of a video game I once played a long time ago with my siblings and never really enjoyed.
At Youtube I found a music video for my two favorite songs from the album and decided to share them with you. ;) Enjoy!
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