Based on his duet with Carly Rae Jepsen, we know that Owl City‘s Adam Young likes to have a ‘Good Time.’ But now he’s showing the serious side on a ballad called ‘Silhouette,’ which you can hear exclusively on PopCrush. The song, from Owl City’s upcoming album ‘The Midsummer Station,’ finds Young putting aside the poppy electronic arrangements for a moment to craft a more introspective tune.

I’m tired of waking up in tears / Cause I can’t put to bed these phobias and fears,” Young coos alongside a gentle piano melody. The track touches on heartache, anxiety and regret as it builds with the gradual appearance of drums and even what sounds like a string section.

Young confronts despair and looks for hope when he sings, “I’m a silhouette, asking every now and then / Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again? / I’m a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own / But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone / So I watch the summer stars to lead me home.” He changes a line of the chorus each time he sings it, so that “Will I ever feel again?” later becomes “Will I ever smile again?” and “Will I ever love again?

‘Silhouette’ may have been one of the songs Young was talking about when he told Alternative Press, “This past year, there’s something that’s been really compelling to me as a writer in figuring out how to make this three-minute song stirring and moving—even if it’s about having a good time or a softer topic. How can I make people feel something and connect with the idea?”

Featuring ‘Silhouette,’ ‘Good Time,’ ‘Shooting Star,’ and a collaboration with Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Owl City’s third major-label release ‘The Midsummer Station’ hits stores next Tuesday, Aug. 21 on Republic Records. You can pre-order the album now on iTunes.

Listen to Owl City, ‘Silhouette’

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