“This is Adam, from Owl City and I want to thank you all for voting me number one in the MNM50. Please keep voting for me, ‘cause it’s nice and warm up here”. That was the message that could be heard during weeks on one of the Flemish hit radios. ‘Fireflies’, Owl City’s break through single, was unbeatable during a very long period of time. So what about the full album?

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Also in the official hit parades it was one of the most sold singles. When Fireflies’s light started to fade, ‘Vanilla Twilight’ got released and steeply rose on the hit lists as well. However, the same faith was not in the cards for Adam Young’s second single. Some say it was because now the second single came out, more people started to buy the entire album. Curious, I went out to get the album. Honestly, I doubt that. To summarize, I think after one song you heard them all.

Let’s be clear, ‘Fireflies’ is a nice song and so is ‘Vanilla Twilight’. Nevertheless, that seems to be exactly the ‘problem’ with the full album: it’s plain ‘just nice’. Even though some songs like ‘Umbrella Beach’ and ‘Dental Care’ - what’s in a name - are more up-beat and ‘The Saltwater Room’, ‘On The Wing’ and ‘The Tip of The Iceberg’ feature a different, though pleasant voice, the tracks sound rather interchangeable.

So what about the lyrics in all this? Hearing them, they sound important, but though on ‘Cave in’ he sings I’ll keep my helmet on just in case my head caves in / ‘cause if my thoughts collapse or my framework snaps / it’ll make a mess like you wouldn’t believe, I have no hard time at all imagining the latter... The album actually sounds of mediocre poetry at times. Wondering what ‘Dental Care’ is actually about? I’ve been to the dentist / A thousand times, so I know the drill / I smooth my hair, sit back in the chair / But somehow I still get the chills. Yes, it is truly about a visit to the dentist, why he doesn’t like it and what to do to avoid it. It sound like what I imagine to be a page out of a 8-year-old’s diary, not a 20-year-old. Maybe I just don't get it...

Is it all bad? No, it isn’t if you like the dreamy sound of ‘Fireflies’ and ‘Vanilla Twilight’. Bare in mind it is exactly that. Dreamy songs which at times make you imagine you are on a life buoy in the middle of tranquil ocean. On a positive note, Adam Young’s voice fits the dreamy tunes like a glove. |