Photo By: Pamela LittkyUniversal Republic Records’ basement launched phenomenon Owl City scored the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart this week, following up his #1 single score on iTunes last week with the smash hit “Fireflies.” The song is breaking boundaries at radio as it forges toward the upper tier at Top 40 and Hot AC formats along with impressive showings at Alternative, Triple A, and Rhythm Crossover. Combining this impressive radio story, a #1 song in North America, a sold out tour and huge sales are all parts in making Owl City the artist development story of 2009.
The near-platinum “Fireflies” also sold an amazing 200,000 digital singles this week, serving as a multi-genre calling card for Owl City/alias Adam Young giving him a 12 point leap into the Top Ten of the Nielsen Soundscan Top 200 Albums Tally via his Universal Republic debut album Ocean Eyes (jumping from #20 to #8).
A self-described ‘shy-kid’ who first arrived on the music scene in 2007, Universal Republic Records has successfully translated Young’s hypnotizing songscapes into mainstream captures of everyday life, connecting with radio, digital and video audiences across the U.S. Owl City’s magical mix of lively-digital rhythms and lush melodies first hatched in the basement of his parent’s house is perfectly portrayed in his debut video for “Fireflies,” which depicts the affable singer performing the song in dreamy basement environment. The video is closing in on an incredible 8.5 million views on youtube, and surging in X-LARGE rotation on VH-1, and other video and digital platforms.
With Ocean Eyes on its way to gold status (rolling past its 9th consecutive week of sales momentum in a listless album sales climate), Owl City is also winding down a highly-praised sold-out tour – ‘Imagine if Nine Inch Nails traded dark for light…’ raved Livedaily.com about Young’s recent Hollywood show. ‘If such a remarkable transformation took place, it would sound, look, and feel a lot like Owl City.’ The tour is hitting Austin, TX on October 30th and skidding into Houston, TX, on Halloween night.
Hailing from the small Minnesota town of Owatonna, Minnesota, (population 22,000), Young’s songs convey a singular simplicity that has rocked the 24/7 non-stop-chatter of an ultra-competitive music world. Calling his homemade-basement studio ‘the cave,’ other songs on the new album include “Vanilla Twilight,” which is also climbing up the iTunes singles chart and “Cave in,” “Umbrella Beach,” “Dental Care,” among others.
