OWL CITY - MAYBE I'M DREAMING

Everything about this record seems to fit a dream theme.  And it's right there in the title of the record.  Adam Young has an amazing ability to create colorful, visual dreamscapes through his words and music.  It's like sitting in a quiet room and hearing water falling somewhere in the background.  You can imagine yourself in any one of a number of settings from viewing a distant waterfall to sitting beside a swift flowing stream.

Each song paints a different picture for the listener to experience.  There are certain recurring themes like the elements of water and air that crop up over and over.  For Young, there's a certain affinity for the cool and calm.  Whether it's in a chill wind or the inherent cooling effect of water, nothing seems too hot or uncomfortable.  It all achieves a sense of natural simplicity.  It's an uncomplicated work of brilliance.

This is the first actual album by Owl City.  It was preceded by an E.P., "Of June" which I haven't reviewed yet.  All of his earlier work is, for lack of a better word, magical.  His later body of work is still enchanting but preoccupies itself with more mundane subject matter and doesn't seem nearly as imaginative as these earlier songs.  

"Maybe I'm Dreaming" has a number of songs I find absolutely stunning!  The first track I really lose it over is 'The Saltwater Room'.  I absolutely love this song.  It features Breanne Duren on vocals and I should point out here I'm completely taken with the way their voices compliment each other.  As a singer, Adam Young possesses a soft, sentimental quality that comes across both sincere and ethereal.  Breanne has a richer more complex voice, but it's also high and lilting.  I've heard some of her solo material and she chooses louder more aggressive songs to sing.  But it's in these softer tunes with Young that her voice really shines.  The two of them create a breathy duo I enjoy listening to over and over.  I'd love to hear an entire album of these two artists collaborating and singing together.  She also sings on my favorite track on the disc, 'Air Traffic'.  I won't even bother trying to explain why I love this song.  It's a simple number.  Hidden on the disc and probably considered a filler track by most people.  To me, it's a relaxing, calming light that fills me up and leaves me drowsy and happy.

Songs like 'Early Birdie' and 'The Technicolor Phase' are so descriptive you can't help but conjure vivid images in your mind.  They're inspiring.  There's just not enough you can say about this beautiful album.  It achieves so much with so little and exposed the world to the visionary talent of Young.  Like the main character in the track 'Sky Diver', you fall into this record rather than listen to it.  And frankly, if you fell asleep listening to this record you would probably experience a bunch of incredible dreams.

I'm not going to ramble on any further or else I'll have to pull out a Thesaurus to find new words for magical and beautiful.  This album is simply all of that and more.  You have to hear it.  In my opinion, "Maybe I'm Dreaming" is the synth album many bands in the 80's were trying to write but never quite achieved.  It's finally realized here.  My final words:  A MYSTICAL ADVENTURE IN THE LAND OF NOD.

OWL CITY - MAYBE I'M DREAMING
01. On The Wing
02. Rainbow Veins
03. Super Honeymoon
04. The Saltwater Room
05. Early Birdie
06. Air Traffic
07. The Technicolor Phase
08. Sky Diver
09. Dear Vienna
10. I'll Meet You There
11. This Is The Future
12. West Coast Friendship