“Ultraviolet” EP by Owl City - Some of Adam Young’s Best Work

      The EP Ultraviolet by Owl City was released on June 27th and only has four tracks. The one most people were already familiar with was Beautiful Times and it featured Lindsey Sterling on violin. This EP shows a combination of elements that we have seen across much of Adam Young’s work in side projects and through Owl City. These tracks also show a level of maturity we really haven’t seen combining to form some excellent new tracks. 

      Let’s start with the track that was originally featured as a single “Beautiful Times”. This track seems to be the norm sound from Adam Young, featuring synth pop sounds and effects but also includes the Violin on Lindsey Sterling. The violin however is used sparingly, and is barely considered a feature. Overall the track is ok, but is definitely not the best track of the four.

      Next we have “Up All Night” which immediately reminds me of one of Adam’s side projects Swimming With Dolphins as both the pop sounds and song style sounds very similar. This track is unique for Adam to use under Owl City as it is a bit more upbeat and aggressive than his standard tracks which have a more atmospheric quality. 

      My favorite track of the set, “This Isn’t The End” has some of the best lyrics, songwriting and instrumental use that I have seen him use. This is like a combination of his Sky Sailing work with his deep and personal lyrics combined with his more refined songwriting of Owl City. This is certainly a track you have to listen to multiple times to fully appreciate. It truly shows the maturity in Young’s lyrics and songwriting. 

      The last track is “Wolf Bite” which is like the first track back to more of Owl City’s standard music style. However this along with the previous track I believe shows the direction that he is movie toward. It seems that in his maturity we are moving away from the silliness that some of his previous tracks incorporated (as well as the atmospheric sound quality in both the music and writing) and we are moving toward some direct emotional meaning and connection which I really like and look forward to seeing more of.