Owl City
is the name of a project formed in early 2007 consisting of one member, Adam Young. [1] Young started out making music in his parents' basement, which he claims is a result of his insomnia. [2] Among Young's influences are disco and European electronic music. [3] 1980s synthpop and New Wave music is also heard in Owl City's sound.
Owl City found early popularity through its own MySpace profile, which has received more than 5 million plays on tracks, such as "Hello Seattle". Young is joined by Breanne Duren on several tracks; the most noted of which being "The Saltwater Room." She is often mistaken for, but is not, the singer Lights; however, Adam Young is also friends with Lights, and is often musically compared as her stylistical male equivalent.
Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has also collaborated with Owl City on several tracks.
Owl City's first two records were released while Young was unsigned. In early 2009, Owl City was signed to record label Universal Republic with the help of entertainment attorney Ken Abdo.
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OWL CITY TICKETS
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Musical style
He sings about unconventional topics such as
urban design, the
elements,
travel,
dental care, and also more conventional topics such as
romance and
love.
Like
new urban contemporaries
Lights and
Ben Gibbard, Young's music is primarily
synth based, dreamy and atmospheric.
[4]
Owl City has been said to sound like
The Postal Service.
Despite being a devoted
Christian, Adam does not consider his music exclusively
Christian music, though he does say his faith is "his main inspiration" in his music.
Discography info
Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video had an exclusive premier on
MySpace,
[5] but was leaked onto
Dailymotion and
YouTube hours early.
Owl City has released three albums, with the latest entitled
Ocean Eyes
released at
iTunes on
July 14,
2009 and a physical release on
July 28,
2009. In 2007, Owl City released an
EP titled
Of June.
In 2008, the album
Maybe I'm Dreaming
was released.
Of June
reached #20 on the
Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and
Maybe I'm Dreaming
peaked on the same chart at #16.
[6] In 2009,
Ocean Eyes
debuted at #27 on the
Billboard 200.
Ocean Eyes
went on to reach #2 on the Top Albums section of iTunes during the iTunes week of July 14. After two weeks the album had received over 2,600 ratings on iTunes with an average score of five stars.
Owl City has also released three
singles, "Hot Air Balloon", "Strawberry Avalanche", and "
Fireflies", leading up to the release of
Ocean Eyes
.
[7]
Young maintains two side projects, Swimming With Dolphins with Austin Tofte and sometimes Breanne Duren and Port Blue. Young has been a part of two other side projects that created original music similar to Owl City; Windsor Airlift and Insect Airport.
Discography
Albums
- ''Of June EP" (Self-released, 2007)
- Maybe I'm Dreaming
(Self-released, 2008)
- Ocean Eyes
(Universal Republic, 2009), #27 Billboard 200
Singles
Year
| Single
| US Hot 100
| US Alt
| Album
|
2009
| "Hot Air Balloon"
| —
| —
| "Ocean Eyes"
|
"Strawberry Avalanche"
| —
| —
|
"Fireflies"
| 94
| 30
|
Discography (Adam Young)
Project name and info
|
Album Name
| Yr Released
|
| Song Title
| Length
|
Windsor Airlift
(2005-Current) Project Members Andy Johnson
Anthony Johnson (Chris P. Lettuce)
Adam Young (Grizzly)
|
Selections for a fallen soldier Vol 2
| Nov 2004
|
| This Face Alone Unveils Shadow
| 4:33
|
Hotels
| Nov 2005
|
| A Lovely Wedding Snow and Sky
| 7:52
|
| When I Was A Pedant Clerk
| 5:03
|
| Owl
| 8:00
|
| 400
| 6:18
|
Ocean City Park
| Aug 2006
|
| Ocean City Park (split into "Ocean", "City" and "Park" on MySpace due to size)
| 29:01
|
Qiu!
| 2006?
|
| Wake Up Boss You're Bald
| 3:22
|
Beneath the Crystal Waves
| Jun 2007
|
| Hello Enchanted Evening
| 9:19
|
| Crescent Island
| 3:46
|
| The Theme from Moonglow
| 6:41
|
| Hellicopters
| 4:43
|
(Unreleased some available on MySpace)
|
|
| A Suite of Serenades
| 5:01
|
| Seaboards
| 3:09
|
Insect Airport
(2006) Band Members Adam Young
|
(unreleased available on MySpace)
|
|
| Apple
| 6:27
|
| Grape
| 3:49
|
| Orange
| 5:30
|
| Strawberry
| 4:33
|
Port Blue
(2006-current) Project Members Adam Young
Andy Johnson (guest)
|
Arctic (Un-released)
| 2006
|
| Juneau
| 7:38
|
| Frigid Airport Lounge
| 3:19
|
| Aurora Borealis
| 4:53
|
| Ice Hands
| 1:17
|
| Snow Fox On Glacier Coast
| 2:08
|
| Moonscape
| 4:59
|
| Deep Iceberg
| 8:00
|
| Glider
| 6:00
|
| Shell And Wing
| 2:17
|
| Polar Bear
| 5:56
|
| Winter Mint(Coda)
| 4:48
|
The Airship
| 2007
|
| Up Ship!
| 4:43
|
| Over Atlantic City
| 4:43
|
| The Grand Staircase
| 4:57
|
| Sunset Cruiser prerelease title "Mr. Chen, Sailmaker"
| 8:04
|
| The Axial Catwalk
| 4:32
|
| Of The Airship Academy
| 3:33
|
| In The Control Car
| 1:40
|
| Under The Glass Observation Dome
| 2:55
|
| Into the Gymnasium prerelease title "The Resilient Miss Kate De Vries"
| 1:33
|
| The Cargo Bay prerelease title "The Cargo Bay and Aft Hatch"
| 3:19
|
| Arrival at Sydney Harbour
| 1:52
|
| At Anchor
| 4:45
|
The Albatross (EP) (written and recorded in Oct 2006)
| 2008
|
| In the Dolphin Tank
| 2:03
|
| Butterflies
| 1:30
|
| City of Safe Harbors
| 2:07
|
| Monorail
| 2:04
|
| The Snow Ballet
| 1:12
|
| Elephant Island
| 2:27
|
| Of Japan
| 1:02
|
| Into The Sea
| 2:23
|
| Silver Blueberry
| 1:19
|
| An Enchanted Evening
| 1:50
|
(Unreleased available on MySpace)
| from 2009
|
| Setting Sail
| 5:00
|
| June Bug
| 3:54
|
Dolphin Park
(2006) Band Members Adam Young
Andy Johnson
|
(songs from the project are found in the Windsor Airlift release "Beneath the Crystal Waves")
|
Swimming With Dolphins
(2008 - current) Band Members
Austin Tofte
Adam Young
|
Ambient Blue
| 2008
|
| Silhouettes (feat. Breanne Düren)
| 5:50
|
| Pajama Party
| 3:50
|
| Sunset 1989
| 3:20
|
| Everything's A Miracle
| 5:41
|
| Up In The Stars
| 5:03
|
(Unreleased)
| 2008
|
| Fast Car
| 4:39
|
Owl City
(2007-current) Band Members
Adam Young
live performances include Austin Tofte and Matt Young
|
Of June
| 2007
|
| Swimming in Miami
| 4:55
|
| Captains and Cruise Ships
| 3:28
|
| Designer Skyline
| 3:29
|
| Panda Bear
| 3:07
|
| The Airway
| 3:23
|
| Fuzzy Blue Lights
| 4:41
|
| Hello Seattle
| 2:57
|
Maybe I'm Dreaming
| 2008
|
| On The Wing
| 5:05
|
| Rainbow Veins
| 4:41
|
| Super Honeymoon
| 3:20
|
| The Saltwater Room
| 4:56
|
| Early Birdie
| 4:16
|
| Air Traffic
| 3:02
|
| The Technicolor Phase
| 4:27
|
| Sky Diver
| 2:45
|
| Dear Vienna
| 3:58
|
| I'll Meet You There
| 4:17
|
| This Is The Future
| 2:53
|
| West Coast Friendship
| 4:06
|
Ocean Eyes
| 2009
|
| Cave In
| 4:02
|
| The Bird and the Worm
| 3:27
|
| Hello Seattle
| 2:47
|
| Umbrella Beach
| 3:51
|
| The Saltwater Room
| 4:02
|
| 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
|
| Tidal Wave
| 3:10
|
(unreleased)
|
|
| The Christmas Song
| (can be purchased on iTunes)
>3:48
|
See also
- Relient K
- Lights
- Synthpop revival
References
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable
- Hot New Band:Owl City. ''SPIN'', June 1, 2009.
- http://newurbanmusic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1
- Title Unavailable
- Charts, Allmusic
- Title Unavailable