In the City of Owls, music Sails in the Sky.

That’s a motivational Gabe-ism I just made up for this post, and I hope it means as much to you as it did to me in the long process of coming up with it.

In creating this small bit of idiomatic genius, I was inspired by talented synth-pop-indie artist Adam Young, known more commonly as Owl City in music circles, because he’s releasing a collection of songs under the name Sky Sailing from before he hit it big.

Vocally, you’re absolutely going to recognize Young’s now famous voice, and while a lot of the chord progressions and melodies are very similar to tracks from “Ocean Eyes,” the synthesized vibe of Owl City is replaced with songs much more heavily dependant on the strum of the acoustic guitar.

But the tunes are still beautiful and dreamy, the lyrics are still refreshingly poetic, and there’s still a strong sense that every song could be played during the I’m-Learning-Something-From-This-Whole-Thing scene in just about any coming of age independent film ever made. Every song comes off epic yet simple—even more so than the Owl City stuff.

With a gun to my head—not an entirely implausible scenario—I’d still take Owl City over Sky Sailing because the newer stuff is more upbeat and memorable, but that doesn’t mean this throwback new release isn’t refreshing in it’s own way.

It Sails in the Sky in the City of Owls, but a little too close to the sun.

That’s deep, right? Let it marinate a little while you get your credit card prepped for what is sure to be an immediate download from iTunes or Amazon or wherever you get your music. In the meantime, I’ll be thinking up more sweet-ass Gabe-isms for later this week.

Stay tuned, and believe in the stars.

Check out “Brielle” from the new (old?) album:

And grab the album everywhere today!

Think of Owl City’s Adam Young as a sort of placid, electronica version of Trent Reznor.  He’s nowhere near as badass, but the two are alike in that both men essentially are their band.  That’s right, gang—Owl City is just one dude.

Having seen Moby in concert once by accident, I can guess that a one-man, multi-laptop show doesn’t make for a particularly interesting entertainment experience, as many a message boarder hath complained, but the music itself is catchy, creative, and smart.  See, Young is a legitimate insomniac who started writing music in his parent’s basement to while away the hours spent not sleeping.  They (“they” being doctors and stuff) say the brain is at its most creative in the moments before sleep, so late-night forays into the poetic and musical realm naturally make for a floating, dreamlike sound.

In fact the video for Young’s first major-label single, “Fireflies,” is steeped heavily in insomnia-related imagery, full of the insane yet jovial things that appear to happen when one fails to catch enough z’s.  It’s not only really cool visually, but it’s also super dreamlike and floating.  Like I said.

Anybody who’s into synthesizers accompanied by heavy bass and flip-floppy drum riffs will dig the O.C., as I’ve just now affectionately nicknamed Young’s project.  Plus, the wordplay and multi-syllabic rhymes sprinkled throughout the course of the album, entitled Ocean Eyes, are top-notch.  A few of my favorites:

“With prawns like these, who needs anemones?” (The Bird and the Worm)
“A foxtrot above my head, a soc-hop beneath my bed, a disco ball is just hanging by a thread.” (Fireflies)
“I’ve been to the dentist a thousand times, so I know the drill.” (Dental Care)

Pretty fun, right?  So what if the concert sucks?  The music itself is actually rather lovely—the sort of thing you’d run through your headphones at 1am in bed, half asleep and half awake, tottering between slumber and insomnia.

It’s enough to make you want to start your own one-man band.  With the success of Nine Inch Nails, Owl City, and Dick Van Dyke’s character in “Mary Poppins,” the world really is your oyster.  Personally, I’d name my band “Sexy, Party of One, Your Table is Ready,” and if my imaginary agent said that was too long to be marketable I’d just go with something catchy like “Fire Plaid” or “Iron Mailbox” and save “Sexy, etc.” for my first single.

Good, it’s done.  Glad we got that all cleared up.  Now what were we talking about?

Best Tracks: “Cave In,” “The Bird and the Worm,” “Hello Seattle,” “Dental Care,” “Meteor Shower,” and “Fireflies.”

Check out Ocean Eyes below:

iTunes

Amazon Music

If you like Owl City, you’ll definitely dig The Script!