Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Owl City developed a following on the social networking site MySpace, like many musicians who achieved success in the late 2000s, before signing with Universal Republic Records, now Republic Records, in 2008.
In June 2011, Owl City released its third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, which was followed by The Midsummer Station in August 2012. Owl City has recorded songs for several animated films, including Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Wreck-It Ralph, The Croods and The Smurfs 2.[2] Owl City also has released several charting singles, most notably "Good Time" and "Fireflies".
owl christmas song lyrics
Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks, Adam Young began to compose music,[10][11][12] recording with a C-1 Behringer Microphone. Among the software that he began with was Reason from Propellerhead.[13][14] He began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to Myspace.[12][15] He started to receive favorable attention for his music and then helped cultivate this nascent fanbase by being an open and accessible web presence, responding to any messages he received and constantly posting blogs.[16] He has variously attributed the name Owl City to either his sister having a pet owl which once got loose in her church,[17] or the 1962 short film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.[citation needed] His manager Steve Bursky later highlighted the significance of Young's engaging online manner in building his following saying: "People feel like they know him, like they've got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online."[16] Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes.[16] In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached No. 15 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at No. 13.[18]
"I think they saw Owl City as representing the future of our business. This idea of a kid in a tiny town in rural U.S. being able to make songs in his basement that sound like Top 40 radio could never have happened ten years ago. By hiring a young management company who understands the business circa 2011 over a seasoned industry vet, who might not understand the online spaces well, showed a lot of understanding of where this kid was going to end up having success."[16]
Ocean Eyes, Owl City's major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City released three singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies".[20] "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By April 2010, it was certified Platinum in the United States.[21] On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.[22] On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.[23]
Young was joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most notable example of which is "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Matthew Decker (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgensen (vibes).[24][25] Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Thiessen can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song, "Terminals".
Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with the song, "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009.[28] Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song, "The Technicolor Phase", that had already been featured in his debut album.[29]
In May 2010, Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010, featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the van Buuren album Mirage. In September, "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming MP3 on his website.[32]
Taylor Swift's song "Enchanted", released on October 25, 2010, was rumored to be about the time she met Adam Young. Young recorded his cover of "Enchanted" as a response, altering the lyrics to address Swift directly. He posted the recording on his website Valentine's Day, February 14, 2011.[33][34]
In February 2011, the title of the album was announced to be All Things Bright and Beautiful and that the album would be released on May 17. However, on April 6, Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs ("Dreams Don't Turn to Dust", "Alligator Sky Featuring Shawn Chrystopher", "Galaxies", and "Deer in the Headlights"), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful would be pushed back to June 14.[39][40]
"Alligator Sky" was released as the lead single from the album on iTunes. Later that month and in early April, tickets went on sale for the All Things Bright and Beautiful World Tour,[41][42][43] and All Things Bright and Beautiful became available for preorder.[44] The song, "Galaxies" would be released as the second single from the album.
Young, along with Jewel and Jay Sean, released a song in promotion of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign by ConAgra Foods entitled "Here's Hope".[52][53] On April 17, 2012, "Dementia", a song by Young which was intended to be included on his upcoming album leaked onto the internet. The song features additional vocals by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.[54]
Young announced that a new EP, Shooting Star, was to be released on May 15 and would feature four songs off his upcoming album, so that fans a could get clear taste of what the album would sound like.[55] On May 24, 2012, Young announced on Twitter that Owl City's fourth studio album would be titled The Midsummer Station,[56] and that it would be released on August 14, 2012, worldwide, apart from in the United Kingdom where it would be released on September 17, 2012.[57] On June 21, 2012, Young announced that the release date of the album would be pushed back to August 21, 2012, but the UK release date would remain the same.[58] On July 12, 2012, Young announced via Twitter that the UK release date would be pushed forward to August 20, 2012.[59]
Young announced via Twitter that he would be collaborating with Carly Rae Jepsen on a new song, claiming that it would be released on June 26, 2012.[60] On June 20, 2012, he released the single, "Good Time", via his SoundCloud account.[61][62] The song was released on iTunes on June 26, 2012. It received generally positive reviews from critics, including Billboard: "It only makes sense that he's joined by Jepsen...[on] a track that could become a radio staple for the rest of the summer,"[63] and Entertainment Weekly: "'Good Time' goes down easier than a frozen margarita at a beachfront tiki bar."[62] "Good Time" was written by Matt Thiessen, Brian Lee and Young himself.[64] The song debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at No. 8, becoming his second top 10 in United States.
On August 18, Young released a small clip of a studio version of "I Hope You Think of Me". The following day, August 19, Young also released two demo songs: "Beautiful Mystery" and "Paper Tigers".[66][67]
In December 2012, Adam Young released a cover of the Art Garfunkel song "Bright Eyes" from the film Watership Down and released it to his SoundCloud page;[71][72] he had previously cited Watership Down as one of his favorite books,[73] stating, "Probably the book that is super inspiring is a book called Watership Down by Richard Adams. It's from the late 70s, about talking rabbits, and it's a very grounded-in-reality book. It's not a kids' book, but it has to do with these talking rabbits and their adventure, and there's a lot of metaphors and crazy stuff. And that's always been a very inspiring thing. If ever I'm feeling dry, or going through writer's block or something, I just even leaf through some pages of that book and I'm like 'Whoa, I have to go make music!'" [74]
In the meantime, Young worked on multiple songs for animated films and television commercials. On March 4, the single "Shine Your Way", featuring Young and Yuna, was released on iTunes from the soundtrack to The Croods.[80] Owl City performed a 90-second jingle for Oreo's "Wonderfilled" commercial in May 2013.[81] In June, it was revealed that Owl City would appear on The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By Soundtrack. The track, called "Live It Up", was released in the soundtrack album.[82] Owl City released the single "Light of Christmas", which featured tobyMac, on October 22.[83][84] The song was created for the 2013 VeggieTales Christmas movie Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.[85][86] 2ff7e9595c