“Dementia” Owl City and Mark Hoppus Collaboration
1 
Owl City instrumentalist and vocalist Adam Young emerges from nearly a year of silence with a tantalizing taste of what’s to come on the electro-pop project’s new album, due out this summer. The native Minnesota singer-songwriter, beloved for his ethereal melodies and catchy lyrics, collaborated with Blink-182 and +44′s Mark Hoppus for his latest single, “Dementia.” Though Young lent his smooth vocals to Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, TobyMac, and Relient K earlier in the year, “Dementia” is the first track he’s released under his Owl City moniker since the June, 2011 LP All Things Bright and Beautiful.
It’s worth the wait.
Young begins verse one, “Every light in the night flicker in and out/Every bone in my back shiver up and down,” before Hoppus supplements the tune at the chorus (which your mind will insist on repeating after you hear it), “Dementia, you’re driving me crazy.” The Blink/+44 bassist and vocalist takes it from verse two. It’s enough to drive you crazy (the good kind, that is).
The two singers’ styles compliment each other, as evidenced by the track’s graceful fusion of voices, which combines elements of Young and Hoppus’s unique projects to elevate “Dementia” to another sound entirely–one that’s more rock for Young and a little more poppy for Hoppus. It exudes the electro sound Owl City has always achieved and one that Blink-182 recently delved into with Neighborhoods. ”Dementia” is a middle ground that strikes a sweet spot, one that’s a little difficult to peg and has thus had me listening to the song over and over in an attempt to capture it. Perhaps this is where its true beauty lays.
Both Young and Hoppus are in the midst of their primary projects, with Young on a world tour for All Things Bright and Beautiful and Hoppus preparing for Blink-182′s summer tour with All American Rejects.
Here’s hoping they take time out afterwards to work together again.
Listen: “Dementia”
Photos from Colorado Daily and Wikipedia
