Artist’s new project goes back to roots
Can you tell a story without a word, without an image? Scores and soundtracks can create strong narratives with their music. They have the ability to evoke emotions with only a song.
Adam Young, known for his project Owl City, is attempting to do this. The month of March marks the release of his second score titled RMS Titanic. Young is creating a new score each month for an event he resonates with, with the desire of getting back to his roots.
“The revelation of a person’s first love of music is different for everyone, but for me, it was film scores — original music written to accompany motion pictures,” Young stated on his website. “These types of atmospheres and anthems spoke my language and I remember experiencing a feeling of wide-eyed wonder while listening to my favorite composers.”
This is incredibly exciting, as a fan of Young’s. I love his work as Owl City, as well as his side projects. His atmospheric instrumentals under his project Port Blue were a joy. Now, he’s releasing a score each month? Count me in.
I was afraid RMS Titanic wasn’t going to be very different from Young’s previous score Apollo 11. But it really does feel different. Young did a great job shifting from the atmosphere and feel of the moon landing to the tragedy of the Titanic. Apollo 11 was a daring adventure into unknown worlds. This is an exciting adventure with a tragic end.
The huge variety in RMS Titanic‘s twelve tracks is refreshing. None of the songs sound like each other, but none seem out of place. The album opens with whimsical and upbeat tracks that conjure up images of elegance, and bright lights. Young captures the magic of late nights and the excitement and adventure of the Titanic’s launch. It moves into calm, gently tragic piano, and later bursts into horror when appropriate.
The use of instruments– I’ll admit my knowledge of music is small when it comes to the actual “mechanics” of it, if you want to call it that, but the arrangement is beautiful and full of pleasant surprises and developments.
The drums and strings move us along in adventure, the flute and piano catching the whimsy. The sound takes a haunting turn when we reach Lookout Duty. It echoes the beautiful whimsy, but now there’s warning and a cold haunt. A chill. Then comes Iceberg, gorgeously haunting. The dread crawls across you as the tension and urgency mounts in the track.
The hymn Nearer My God, to Thee even makes an appearance in the song Lifeboats. It adds to the reverence and atmosphere of the song, and demonstrates Young’s love of demonstrating his faith. Young does an amazing job capturing and conveying emotion so beautifully. RMS Titanic really is a beautiful album in honor of a tragic event. These scores are adventures. Each track is a chapter, meant to pull you in, and it works.
My only complaint is I feel the music loses some effect, the synth instruments (I assume), but that’s an incredibly minor complaint. It barely detracts anything, the songs are still just as atmospheric and fantastic. I would love to hear a full orchestra perform these tracks some day.
Young’s previous album in this project, Apollo 11, is just as fantastic. It’s impressive to see him put these scores out so quickly without their quality suffering. Young makes it clear that these are events he cares about and an art he loves. He creates talent-filled, beautiful music with heart in it. Some songs even seem to have a little Owl City in there sometimes; little bits of music he gravitates to, sounds he likes to use.
Young is capable of telling a whole story only with instruments. Every Man for Himself gives you chills. Silence‘s instruments sound like creaking ice, groaning metal. It all captures the adventure and whimsy. The boldness and innovation. The terror, the mourning and hope. Young accomplished what he set out to do.
“Stories are infinite. They offer us the ability to retell them according to the way we imagine them,” Young said. “Thus, I want to create musical narratives that aid in the telling of stories that move Adam Young, according to his imagination. And I want to share them with you.”
I’ll say it now: someone, please consider hiring Adam Young to compose a soundtrack for a movie or video game. Young is incredibly talented, and hearing his unique style applied to atmospheric scores is a treat.
The album is available for purchase on iTunes and for free at ayoungscore.com. It is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. Young is making another score every month.
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This writer can be reached via Twitter: @ejLadd, and via email: Emily Ladd.
