Review Summary: Fun, upbeat music, and that's that. Oh, and he REALLY likes oceans.
Adam Young minces no words with the second album under his Owl City moniker. Jumping right in with an upbeat keyboard line, and just going from there, with relaxing, yet at times inspiring, anthems of synthpop completed by the comfortable and smooth vocals of Adam Young and (during many songs) guest singer Matt Thiessen of Relient K. Looking for a good description of Young's voice? Look no further than Thiessen--it's quite literally impossible to tell when the guest vocals come in, because they sound JUST LIKE Young's.
But the similarities end there. Owl City take this very streamlined voice, and place it in an unabashedly fun electronic pop setting. But don't get me wrong, this isn't pop like what you hear from Britney Spears, nor is it electronic like what you get from Infected Mushroom. This is the definition of "upbeat." Vaguely dancable music, with an overbearing innocence and joyous, youthful exuberance just leaking from it.
But that doesn't mean this is music for the innocent, or the musically immature. This fits perfectly into the world of people who want to escape the overall seriousness of the music that is genuinely found as "Respectable," without foraying into the land of blatant pandering to the masses. It's enjoyable, and that's that. There's no hyper technicality here, no intense sorrow--in fact, there's very little emotion present at all. But it still doesn't feel as if it was manufactured, like most emotionless pop music does. This is obviously a man who is creating music from his heart, he just doesn't want to weigh people down with it.
But on the rare occasion Adam lets an emotional moment slip in, it is truly special. On album highlights "Hello Seattle" and "Fireflies," he gets in a little special something generally foreign to the rest of the ocean-themed record. At the end of "Hello Seattle," Young takes a decent synthpop number, and takes it into a huge crescendo, with soaring vocals and perfectly fitting lyrics:
"Take me above your light, Carry me through the night. Hold me secure in flight, sing me to sleep tonight." Similarly, in the chorus of "Fireflies," Adam decides to turn down the excessive-happy and bring us a moving, epic melody, that almost throws the listener off with its fast-slow tempo, and the way that he runs the melody through both subdued vocals over piano, and more of the soaring, smooth lines we got in "Hello Seattle" over heavier (but still overly pleasant) guitars.
Throughout the whole of
Ocean Eyes, Adam Young proves that he truly knows how to write a great pop hook, and back it up with enjoyable and somewhat unique instrumentals. No, this isn't the most original or mind-blowing album you've heard this year, or even this week, but it's great for taking a break from the heavier likes of today's music scene, and, despite a distinct need for better lyrics, is a remarkably strong album of electronic synthpop gems, especially when Adam Young really lets a little powerful moment slip in there among all of the good cheer.
funny
