Hot Video Alert: Owl City - Deer In The Headlights

Is it possible for an artist to still be a "one hit wonder" with two top 10 albums under his belt? The reason I ask is because Owl City is now two albums into his career and only one single can really be considered a success. I guess I'm wondering if we should look at the single as the hit or the album. Maybe both? "Deer In The Headlights" is the second official single to be lifted off of Adam Young (AKA Owl City)'s latest album, All Things Bright And Beautiful, which was released in June and peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart. Written and produced by Young, "Deer In The Headlights" tries hard to be as catchy as "Fireflies" but ultimately fails. To be honest, I have no idea what it is about the song "Fireflies" that made it into such a bonafied hit.  There was something there in the song that connected with radio audiences and music fans that his new album just hasn't done quite yet.

"Fireflies" went all the way to the top of the charts in several countries when it was released back in 2009.  Since then, Young released a couple of other singles from the first album, but none of them saw the same success.  In fact, only single #2 "Vanilla Twilight," charted on the Billboard Hot 100, coming in at a disappointing #72.  Between Owl City albums, Young  attempted the singer songwriter thing under the name Sky Sailing, releasing a single and album, the latter of which peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200.  The first single released from All Things Bright And Beautiful, "Alligator Sky" was a musically and stylistically refreshing return for the "folktronica" singer/songwriter/producer, featuring a guest rap from California based hip-hop artist Shawn Chrystopher. Alternate versions of the song leaked featuring guest raps from B.o.B. and 1/2 of Outkast - Big Boi, yet still the song failed to chart in the States. Over in Germany, "Alligator Sky" barely missed the top 10 while in Canada the song came THIS close to missing the top 100, peaking at #97.  Whatever sort of rut Young is in chartwise, I hope he gets out of it. I'd hate to see his label, Universal Republic, drop him out of their roster.  Perhaps album number three needs to be a bit more experimental than Young's past two releases.

Check out the dreamy Steve Hoover (the video director responsible for both "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight") directed clip for "Deer In The Headlights."  The trippy video features Young driving around in a DeLorean (straight outta Back To The Future), passing through a sea of jelly fish, dinosaurs before nearly crashing into his future self, decked out in the astronaut suit from the "Alligator Sky" video. Look for a cameo by Canadian singer/songwriter Lights, who appears as a convenience store clerk/illusion.  Download "Deer In The Headlights" on U.S. iTunes HERE.  You can also download Owl City's newest single, "Lonely Lullaby" which came out last month.

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