Review Summary: This sure is an album.
Composed of fifteen songs, wielding titles such as ‘Fiji Water’ and ‘The 5th of July’, Adam Young has once again made a thing. There are synthesizers, and even drums! Young puts his heart on the line with ‘All My Friends’, in which he raps some of the verses: “we’re about to light a fire like never before.” On ‘House Wren’ he whistles like a bird, but then there are real, actual bird chirps in the background haha! That clever rascal. On ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes’, he lets us know that not all heroes wear capes because his dad built him a tree house. Ballads like ‘Always’ certainly do feature pianos and lyrics about angels, in case you were wondering. It’s a sonic adventure, absolutely. The handclaps throughout the experience let us know that even though there are deep lyrics, it’s okay to have fun every once in a while! ‘Firebird’ is a penultimate anthem of youth – “it’s alright, everything changes” Adam squeals, before getting all poignant, penning straight from the lyrics of his tattered journal, “Tell me why I look back and I wanna cry.” Don’t worry though, things end on a super positive note. After the heartbreak of looking in the rearview mirror, Adam comes out with the epic closer ‘Cinematic’, euphorically giving the album an aluminum silver lining: “Your worst critics are sitting up front / And they're giving you two thumbs way, way up.” You can say that again.
2/5
