美丽人生 (2011)

All Things Bright and Beautiful is the third studio album by the American electronica project Owl City. It was released on June 14, 2011, by Universal Republic Records. Despite receiving mixed critical reviews, it became a commercial success, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200. Selling 48,000 copies first week, it became Owl City's highest charting album on the Billboard 200, to date. The album was preceded by its lead single "Alligator Sky" and second single "Galaxies". "Lonely Lullaby" was first released as an Owl City fan club exclusive in March 2011, before it was released as the album's third single in July. The album's fourth and final single "Angels" was serviced to Christian radio in September.

In support of the album, he embarked on his second headlining tour, the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour from June to November 2011, as well as making his live debut televised performance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show in July.

The album's title is based on the hymn of the same name.

Background and development

Production for the album began around mid-2010 after he returned home from his Ocean Eyes World Tour. Young recorded, engineered and produced the album himself, while also working with engineer and producer Jack Joseph Puig. Universal Republic first suggested that Owl City work with Dr. Luke and Starsmith on the album, however, his manager, Steve Bursky, "urged him to resist," explaining that his "single vision" is what made his previous album Ocean Eyes successful. While beginning the process of working on his third album, he said he put "a little bit of pressure on myself from myself," following the success of his hit single "Fireflies". The album features less autotuned and processed vocals, as Young wanted it to sound more "finished" than his previous album. Describing the sound as still "electronic," he also wanted the album to feature real instruments such as "live drums" and more guitar. A lot of the record was influenced by his experiences visiting places like Japan, Australia and New Zealand, while on tour. He also incorporated his Christian faith onto the album, which he was initially hesitant on adding, as he felt like he had "no business" in adding his beliefs to his music. However, wanting to be "right with God foremost" and the record to be "full of dangerous territory," he decided to include his faith.

In January 2011, it was announced that his third album would be released sometime in spring/summer of that year. The album was originally planned to have a worldwide release date of May 24, 2011. It was then changed to May 17. On April 6, however, Young posted on his official site that the release date had been bumped to June 14, 2011. He stated that the reason was a "last-minute" decision and was "to make sure the new single was set up properly and the music video was ready to go. I know it's always a bummer when these things happen, and people always want to know the back story, but that was purely a chance to take one more breath before the plunge. A month is a long time, but everybody's super fired-up." Along with this post were previews of four tracks from the new album, each being 1:30 long. The previews posted were of "Alligator Sky" (featuring Shawn Chrystopher), "Deer in the Headlights", "Galaxies" and "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust". Upon the release of the album, Young said of the expectations as "positive pressure." In March 2011, Owl City announced the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour in support of the album, beginning on June 13, and concluding November 20. On July 20, Owl City made his live debut televised performance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Deer in the Headlights", in promotion of the album.

In an interview with Us Weekly on June 15, 2011, a day after the album's release, Young revealed that the album originally intended to have Taylor Swift as another guest, but was unable to do so, due to her being busy touring at the time. He also added about having her in a specific song, which may or may not be one of the songs in the album.

Composition and writing

The album sees Adam Young continuing his synth-pop stylings while also experimenting with indie rock, folk, European trance on "Galaxies" and rap on "Alligator Sky". Guest musicians on the album include Shawn Chrystopher, Matthew Thiessen, Lights, Breanne Düren and Adam Young's mother, Joan Young. Young experimented with hip-hop on the tracks "Alligator Sky", "Kamikaze" and "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust", the latter being influenced by A Tribe Called Quest. Other songs like "Deer in the Headlights" and "Angels" features more guitar, while keeping some electronic elements.