Owl City falls way, WAY short on “All My Friends,” the quirky, schmaltzy promo single for his forthcoming album, ‘Cinematic.’

Owl City did something weird – he announced the release of a new album eight months in advance. WTF? At any rate, Cinematic arrives June 1, 2018. Far in advance of the album, Owl City drops single “All My Friends,” and it’s a hot, funky mess! ARTV definitely has a point in his video review of the track.  It’s godawful. Add it to the worst songs of 2017.

Surprisingly, “All My Friends” commences with acoustic guitars – definitely a different sound for Owl City.  Adding to the shock, “All My Friends” sounds like a country song, something that Adam Young hasn’t been associated with throughout his career.  Then, to add to the confounding, off-putting nature of the song, Young ‘raps,’ on the first verse.

“It’s been this way from the start / It’s like they’re always tryna tear us apart / But we will stand strong, stand true / And everybody’s gonna watch what we do.”

Can you say cringe? Corny moments making the song even worse are iterations of the words/phrases “awestruck,” “Aww shucks,” and the prolonged torture of “oh.” The chorus is more traditional Owl City, but STILL it’s utterly ridiculous.  Thankfully, Young sings as opposed to rap, but still…

“All my friends, woa-oa-oah / Come right in, woa-oa-oah / All my friends / We can take it all back again, woa-oa-oah / Put your hands on in / And let me hear you say, ‘oh, yeah!’ / Let me hear you say, ‘Yeah!’”

Ugh! The second verse brings clumsier, schmaltz, seemingly pointless to the nth degree.  There’s still this odd pseudo-country, pop-rap, or whatever Owl City calls himself concocting.  It’s predictable.

Final Thoughts 

Keeping it 100, this is f#@$ing awful. Perhaps some folks will find something redeeming about “All My Friends.” As to how that’s possible, who knows. Personally, Owl City lay a big fat egg with this one.  Abysmal.

Owl City • Cinematic • Owl City • Release: 7.1.18 

Photo Credit: Owl City