Ultraviolet
EP by
Owl City
ReleasedJune 27, 2014 (2014-06-27)
StudioSky Harbor Studios, Owatonna, Minnesota
GenreElectropop, EDM[1]
Length14:30
LabelRepublic
ProducerAdam Young
Owl City chronology
The Midsummer Station - Acoustic EP
(2013)		 Ultraviolet
(2014)		 The Best of Owl City
(2014)
Singles from Ultraviolet
  1. "Beautiful Times"
    Released: April 8, 2014

Ultraviolet is the fourth extended play by American electronica project Owl City, released digitally on June 27, 2014, through Republic Records.[2] The EP's lead single, "Beautiful Times", which features violinist Lindsey Stirling, was released on April 8, 2014.[3]

Background and release

In early 2014, Young revealed the album artwork for his single, "Beautiful Times", through his Instagram account.[4][5] The song, which was released on April 8, would act as the lead single for Ultraviolet and features music by violinist Lindsey Stirling.[3] Following the release of "Beautiful Times", Young stated his intent to release a steady "series of EPs" in 2014 rather than one larger recording.[6] On June 5, it was announced that the EP would be released on June 27.[7] The album art and track listing, as well as a clip of one of the songs, were released on June 10 as part of a social media marketing campaign to promote the release of the EP.[8]

On June 17, the EP was released for pre-order on iTunes.[2] On June 18, Owl City premiered a new track, "Wolf Bite" days before the release of the EP.[9] On June 25, a preview for the "Beautiful Times" music video was released.[10] The music video premiered the following day via Rolling Stone.[11]

On July 17, Owl City released a visualizer video for the song "Wolf Bite" premiering on MetroLyrics.com through Vevo.[12] On August 1, a visualizer video for "Up All Night" was released. Adam Young has expressed his interest to create respective visualizers for each song in this EP.[13] On August 29, the video for "This Isn't The End" was released and serves as the last visualizer for the EP. The song was also included on the subsequent studio album, Mobile Orchestra.

Composition

Adam Young wrote and produced the EP entirely by himself.[14] According to Young, the EP is a "deeper venture into EDM" and has a more "edgier sound to Owl City than experienced before."[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Jesus Freak Hideout[15]

Ultraviolet was generally met with positive reviews. Fred Thomas of AllMusic stated, "Ultraviolet's high point was first song and subsequent single 'Beautiful Times', a bounding pop track marked by soaring string arrangements from guest violinist Lindsey Stirling."[14] Marcus Floyd of Renowned for Sound remarked, "There are definitely some different sounds being experimented here with Ultraviolet, standing out from the light hearted pop previously tapped into by Owl City."[1] Scott Fryberger of Jesus Freak Hideout called the EP "a breath of fresh air" and compared the record to Owl City's third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful.[15]

Commercial performance

Ultraviolet peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart.[16] The lead single "Beautiful Times" peaked at number 91 on the Japan Hot 100 chart.[17] "Wolf Bite" reached the US Christian Rock Songs chart and the US Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales at number 22 and number 48 respectively.[18][19] "This Isn't the End" peaked at number six on the UK Cross Rhythms Weekly Chart.[20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Adam Young

Ultraviolet - EP
No.TitleLength
1."Beautiful Times" (featuring Lindsey Stirling)3:25
2."Up All Night"3:51
3."This Isn't the End"3:24
4."Wolf Bite"3:50
Total length:14:30
Ultraviolet - Single[21]
No.TitleLength
1."Beautiful Times" (featuring Lindsey Stirling)3:25
2."Up All Night"3:51
3."Wolf Bite"3:50
Total length:11:06

Charts

Chart performance for Ultraviolet
Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[16] 30

Music videos

Audio

References

  1. 1 2 3 Marcus Floyd. "EP Review: Owl City – Ultraviolet". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Ultraviolet - EP Owl City". Apple Music. Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Matt Crane (April 8, 2014). "Owl City streams new single, Beautiful Times (ft. Lindsey Stirling)". Alternative Press. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Piece five of the April single album artwork on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Piece four of the April single album artwork on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Owl City Announces New EPs For 2014". FreQazoid. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Owl City announces 'Ultraviolet' EP". Alternative Press. June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Adam Young gives fans preview of Owl City's June EP". Tumblr. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ Sarah Dos Santos (June 23, 2014). "Owl City releases new track Wolf Bite from new album, Ultraviolet". HM. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Owl City - Beautiful Times (feat. Lindsey Stirling) [Official Teaser]". YouTube. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  11. ↑ Nick Murray (June 26, 2014). "Watch Owl City's Whimsical 'Beautiful Times' Video - Premiere". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Owl City Premieres New 'Wolf Bite' Video, Shares Handwritten Lyrics". Metrolyrics.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ↑ "Owl City - Up All Night (Official Visualizer)". YouTube. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Owl City - Ultraviolet EP Review". AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Scott Fryberger (September 2, 2014). "Owl City - Ultraviolet". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Owl City Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Owl City Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Owl City – Chart History: Christian Rock". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Owl City — Chart History: Dance/Electronic Digital Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Cross Rhythms Top Ten: Week Beginning 10 April 2016". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Ultraviolet - Single by Owl City". Apple Music. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
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