So, lately I've noticed that Owl City has started to be played on Much. I've also noticed a fair amount of people tweeting about jamming out to him, and I've discovered him on a lot of people's iPod's when I raid them. So, if you don't know already, who is Owl City? Owl City is a one man project with the name of Adam Young hailing from Owatonna, Minnesota. His style is snyth-pop music heavy on the bleeps and blurps like you'd find if your kitchen were to suddenly come alive with happiness as they do your dishes, or cook your Kraft Dinner. He has this innocence about him and frankly he should date Lights. They'd make an amazing snyth-pop joy filled couple. (They're going on tour together in 2010.)
So, on July 14th 2009 his sophomore effort Ocean Eyes dropped digitally to the public. I picked up this record a couple days later, because at the time I wasn't so enthused about Owl City's pop act. When I pressed the play button in iTunes my head exploded with the first track, Cave In's upbeat sound. I could tell the production was way more well done on this record, unlike his first album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Cave In is a fantastic opener and left me curious for what was to come.
The next few tracks continue to come at me with their joy, like a day where you just lay out on the beach with no worries of homework and you lay there soaking the up the sun. The fifth track gets a bit somber, The Saltwater Room. This song was on Young's debut but it seems to fit in a lot better with Ocean Eyes .
What's my favourite track off of Ocean Eyes you ask? That would have to be Meteor Shower, clocking in at only 2:14 it rends itself apart to give you the heart of it: 'I am not my own/ for I have been renewed/ please don't let me go/I desperately need you.' That lyric says it all right there, whether you believe it's coming from Young's Christian influence or a relationship it's a moving track that sits very well in the middle of this album.
The lead single for Ocean Eyes is Fireflies, and it makes a perfect one. It's doing really well and in Canada with frequent plays on Much. How can people resist with cute lyrics like: 'Cause I get ten thousand hugs/from ten thousand lightning bugs' ?
Owl City's sophomore album is a breath of fresh air, and like many others lately I am breathing it in. He's clearly becoming a huge hit and his universally infectious music will be playing on my iPod for a long time to come. Ocean Eyes is a fitting name for this album and even as the snow begins to drift down we can all remember that our summer lives on in spirit through Owl City.
Score: 4/5
