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Date: 29 April, 2010

 

'That song’s a great example of Adam’s child-like imagination (and occasionally cheesy sense of humour) running riot.'

 

George Luke reviews the latest music albums from Owl City, Mumford & Sons, One Republic and One Voice, and the DVD from Delirious?

I'm not saying this to be unkind, but Adam Young (aka Owl City) strikes me as sounding like an emo version of Calvin Harris.

Owl City’s new album Ocean Eyes has already yielded a Top Five chart hit in the single “Fireflies”. That song’s a great example of Adam’s child-like imagination (and occasionally cheesy sense of humour) running riot.

There’s nothing wrong with a dose of unabashedly cheery pop every now and then, and Owl City certainly delivers.

Buy Owl City's Ocean Eyes

People with an ear for songwriting that’s profound, uplifting and spiritual have been raving about Mumford & Sons to me for a while now. Listening to the album Sigh No More, it's easy to see why.

Sigh No More is a fine debut from the London-based band who have built up a solid reputation on the folk scene since their formation in 2007.

The songs here are full of raw emotion, passionately played. Definitely worth listening to – again and again and again.

Buy Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More

The Coldplay and U2 influences are easy to spot on Waking Up, the second studio album from American pop-rockers OneRepublic.

On the whole, Waking Up is a pleasant listen. “All the Right Moves” will appeal to anyone who loved their old hit “Apologize”, and “Everybody Loves Me” is a nice, funky stomper.

However, it’s hard not to think of OneRepublic as just a project to keep front man Ryan Tedder occupied in between his stints writing and producing hits for the Leonas. Beyonces and J-Los of the world.

Delirious? seem to have been making the news a lot more now that they’ve disbanded than they did while they were together.

Following the fan campaign that got “History Maker” into the charts over Easter, the band’s Farewell Show is now out on DVD, Blu-ray and a double CD (including them acting as their own support act, the Cutting Edge Band).

So if you couldn’t make it to what was definitely the best Delirious? gig ever, now’s your chance. Keep an eye out for the crowd-surfer who spends the whole of “Deeper” dancing on a mate’s shoulders.

Buy Delirious? - Farewell Show DVD

It would be remiss of me to finish this month's column without mentioning the latest One Voice project.

The song “Somebody Please” originally appeared on the One Voice album (see review in last October's Tunes).

In February, a cast of thousands got together at Abbey Road studios to re-record it as a charity single for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Re-titled “Somebody Please Help Haiti”, it's now available for download.

You know what to do...

Download Somebody Please Help Haiti

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