A man with many names, Adam Young is the type of individual who's restlessness is as terrific as it is tiresome. At his best, he creates atmospheric and lush electronic pop that's pitched somewhere between Dido and The Postal Service on the spectrum. When he's not Owl City, then Mr. Young is making soft acoustic-pop as Sky Sailing, whose sound is designated as Death Cab for Cutie meets Sarah McLachlan. His worst moments, though, are when he strips the subtlety away, and instead opts for garish synth-pop that while can sometimes be infectious, is usually too hollow to satisfy. Luckily for us, he doesn't make this mistake with his third alias, Port Blue. On its debut LP "The Airship", Adam makes sure to keep his strengths and weaknesses separate, combining the electronic atmosphere with a singer/songwriter's ambiance to create this: an easy, 13-song set that is pleasurable throughout. With no vocals (besides the occasional chatter in the background), this record is a fine example of Adam Young working at a peak of musical ability. This is due to a couple reasons, the first being that since his voice isn't heard, there's nothing to disparage here (besides the song titles, which are at once too obvious yet not informative enough). Lyrics have always been a touchy subject with Owl City, so Port Blue is word-free, letting the sturdy hooks within the arrangements to shine through the gloss of the production. This leads to another advantage that this album has: while it certainly boasts some lengthy songs and clocks in at 51 minutes, there's absolutely no problem just listening to it because while there are minor chords a plenty, there's also a sense of light that crackles through each track. Clearly, Adam Young took a page from Daft Punk's "Homework", an album that celebrates our lives through sound and rhythm. However, while that album was made for a night out or fast-pace motion, "The Airship" is its opposite: an airy, mid-tempo record that is more appropriate for fine dining or strolls through the park. This is nowhere more prevalent than in "The Grand Staircase", featuring a more urban vibe that could've easily accompanied "Hey, Arnold!" back in its heyday. Elsewhere, we have simply gorgeous chill-out music, such as the appropos "The Gentle Descent" or "Under the Glass Observation Dome", both of which fuse Enya's multi-layered synths within the usual studio magic we've come to expect from Adam. There really isn't one song here that doesn't sound good, and that's what makes it so instantly appealing. This is happy music that exists entirely on the surface, so much so that when the album ends, it's a jarring buzz kill. And that's also kind of the problem with "The Airship"; every so often, it tries to dig below ground and give some sort of dramatic, narrative arc. It's nice to see some context given to these songs, but since so much time and effort was used to make them sound as ethereal as possible, there really is no need to complicate things. There's also the issue of how cold and distant the production feels when it tries to get serious, and this unfortunately carries on throughout the rest of the songs. But like before, these moments are still so subtle that they can easily be overlooked. Also notable is how each song can bring something new; Adam doesn't start repeating himself until the last three songs. A minor flaw in an otherwise excellent collection of music tailored as a soundtrack to our world.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Up Ship! 2. Over
4. Sunset
Cruiser 5. The Axial Catwalk 6. Of the Airship Academy
7. In The
Control Car 8. Under the Glass Observation Dome
9. Into
the Gymnasium 10. The Cargo Bay 11.
Arrival at Sydney Harbour
12. The Gentle Descent 13. At
Anchor
No comments:
Post a Comment