| Owl City's Adam Young, a 24-year-old small-town Minnesotan who had never been on an airplane until two years ago, has experienced many extraordinary moments over the past 18 months, including calling his mom back home on his cellphone while standing on The Great Wall of China. Young's travels came in the wake of the blockbuster success of Owl City's major-label debut album -- the lush, lovingly created Ocean Eyes, which was released by Universal Republic Records in July 2009. Filled with whimsical melodies and blissful beats, Ocean Eyes topped the Billboard Rock, Alternative, and Dance/Electronic charts and was certified platinum in the U.S. The album spawned the quadruple-platinum single "Fireflies," which hit No. 1 in 24 countries including the U.S. (twice), and sold more than four million downloads. Its eye-popping success has made Owl City an international phenomenon, shifting nearly 12 million tracks worldwide, selling out headlining shows in the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, and racking up more than 98 million total plays on MySpace. Young's adventures are evocatively detailed on the impossibly catchy electro-pop songs that make up Owl City's self-produced new album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, which finds Young expanding his sonic palette as he takes his listeners into a verdant musical dreamland on such tracks as first single "Alligator Sky," "The Real World," and "Dreams Don't Turn To Dust." Throughout the album, Young retains his trademark optimism, letting the listener know that no matter how tough times get, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. "I would feel weird if I were to communicate anything other than optimism, because it's just who I am," Young says. "It's always been in me to make Owl City a vehicle that sends a hopeful message. As a listener, I'm drawn to things that are really uplifting. When a certain melody grabs my ear, it makes me feel like I could be a better person." |
