During the three years between Midsummer Station and Mobile Orchestra, Owl City's Adam Young kept busy contributing songs to film soundtracks and releasing the Ultraviolet EP.
However, Young's fifth album suggests that he paid attention to the big trends in pop music that surfaced since his last full-length.
Mobile Orchestra lives up to its name, covering more musical ground than any of Owl City's previous work.
Some of its forays are more expected than others: Young's incorporation of EDM beats and breakdowns on songs like "Can't Live Without You" is savvy, especially when he teams up with some of the style's hitmakers.
"Verge" updates Owl City's fizzy anthems with a cameo by Aloe Blacc, whose Avicii collaboration "Wake Me Up" was a huge hit, while "Thunderstruck" features U.K.
trance vocalist Sarah Russell.
On the other hand, the Jake Owen duet "Back Home" is a complete surprise, partly because of how successfully it blends the shuffling rhythms of 2010s country into Owl City's signature sound.
Indeed, Young's trademark gleaming production and boyish vocals unite Mobile Orchestra's eclectic music and emotions, which are nearly as wide-ranging.
The album features two of his most overtly Christian songs, "My Everything" and "You're Not Alone," both of which make the most of Owl City's feel-good vibes.
Elsewhere, Young gets more personal on the confessional "I Found Love" and the quirky "Unbelievable," a bit of millennial nostalgia featuring '90s pop icons Hanson.
Young still doesn't do darkness as well as light -- his uplifting style doesn't give quite enough weight to "This Isn't the End"'s tale of healing and redemption -- but Mobile Orchestra shows a willingness to grow and change that makes it the most complete portrait of Owl City's music yet.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VergeAloe Blacc, Matthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 2 | VergeAloe Blacc, Matthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | I Found LoveAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | I Found LoveAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | ThunderstruckAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 6 | ThunderstruckAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 7 | My EverythingAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | My EverythingAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | UnbelievableHanson, Matthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | UnbelievableHanson, Matthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 11 | Bird With a Broken WingAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 12 | Bird With a Broken WingAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 13 | Back HomeMatthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 14 | Back HomeMatthew Thiessen, Emily Wright, Adam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 15 | Can't Live Without YouAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 16 | Can't Live Without YouAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 17 | You're Not AloneAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 18 | You're Not AloneAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 19 | This Isn't the EndAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 20 | This Isn't the EndAdam Young | Owl City | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 21 | Tokyo | Owl City, Sekai No Owar | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 22 | Up All Night | Owl City | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 23 | Mobile Orchestra | Owl City | Play | 00:35 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 79 mins | 183 MB | |||||
| 79 mins | 577 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Adelson | A&R |
| 2 | Aloe Blacc | Additional Production, Composer, Featured Artist, Vocal Producer, Vocals |
| 3 | Steve Bursky | Executive Producer, Management |
| 4 | Andy Cook | Booking |
| 5 | Joshua Crosby | Engineer, Producer |
| 6 | Bryan Fowler | Assistant, Guitar |
| 7 | Hanson | Composer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 8 | Rob Helmstetter | Artwork |
| 9 | Matt Hoopes | Engineer |
| 10 | J. Reid Hunter | Legal Advisor |
| 11 | Jasper Nephew | Guitar |
| 12 | Jeff Krones | Booking |
| 13 | Ted Jensen | Mastering |
| 14 | Stephanie Lauren | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Brian Manning | Booking |
| 16 | Joey Moi | Engineer, Producer |
| 17 | Dawn Nepp | Management |
| 18 | Britt Nicole | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 19 | Rob Oesterlin | Engineer |
| 20 | Abbey Olmsted | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 21 | Robert Orton | Mixing |
| 22 | Jake Owen | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 23 | Owl City | Primary Artist |
| 24 | Sarah Russell | Engineer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 25 | Ryan Williamson | Engineer, Producer |
| 26 | Jerricho Scroggins | Assistant |
| 27 | Christopher Stevens | Mixing, Programming |
| 28 | Rob Stevenson | A&R |
| 29 | Matthew Thiessen | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Marlene Tsuchii | Booking |
| 31 | Jeff Worob | Legal Advisor |
| 32 | Emily Wright | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 33 | Adam Young | Composer, Engineer, Group Member, Instrumentation, Mixing, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |