Owl City's new EP

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] listened to all the tracks from Owl City's new EP "Shooting Star" this afternoon as four different well-known celebrity publications posted the private SoundCloud files. When I finished, I wasn't all that impressed. "Dementia (feat. Mark Hoppus)" was probably the best track in this EP -- the rest being just okay. They're not terrible, but I feel as if Young is transitioning to a more pop-ish style and that kind of makes me sad.

If you listen to such a track as "Shooting Star", you'll notice that the synths and song in its entirety is very mainstream and doesn't have all that much originality in the beat or melody. If the lyrics were to compensate, that'd help, but they don't. I like the intro, but when he starts singing the chorus the song really loses its overall appeal.

Maybe I'm looking for too much in this EP. I know it can't be another "Galaxies" single, but I still hope for something less mainstream with lyrics speaking of "tonight". I hear this every day in every other pop song out there and thus far, Adam Young has successfully set himself apart from this. Today, I sit disappointed, yet I still have hope that the album itself will be better.

Other tracks include "Gold", which began with the classic Owl City synth and then transitioned into a completely-mainstream melody, and "Take It All Away". In "Gold", Adam began with what I just described and then utilized a gate on his voice, which really hurt the song. As a whole, it sounded like every other pop release out there with some okay lyrics. The pre-chorus was pretty good, but I still couldn't bring myself to like it.

As for "Take It All Away", the loud bass and clap just give it that mainstream feel. However, just a little bit in there's a redeeming quality of Young's famous synth -- I think it's a triangle or square, but I'm not quite sure. The chorus of the song is boring and sounds like the rest of today's music -- unoriginal. The lyrics are good, but I just can't stand to hear such music with them. When you get to the bridge, it's a bit repetitive and just reiterates the qualities that are in the beginning of the song.

The EP isn't bad, it's just not the Owl City I once knew. It pains me saying that because Owl City is one of my favorite artists out there.