12/16/2009
Written By: Ari Curtis
Category: Entertainment  
School(s):

OneRepublic first burst onto the music scene with “Apologize,” a collaboration with Timbaland. Now, it looks like the group is doing just fine on it’s own.

OneRepublic’s second album “Waking Up” is an ethereal blend of melodic piano riffs, powerful string sections and infectious pop beats. The album’s integration of classical instruments and modern rhythms creates a uniquely appealing sound. OneRepublic’s style floats between rock, pop and R&B. There are even tastes of twangy southern rock and spunky hip-hop in the album’s fourth track, “Everybody Loves Me.”

The band’s leap to rock-star status is documented in the album’s lyrics. “Good Life” is an upbeat ode to living, well, the good life. Ryan Tedder, the band’s lead singer, pianist and songwriter sings about traveling the world and city living. You can sense Tedder’s amazement at his band’s success when he sings “Woke up in London yesterday/ Found myself in the city, near Piccadilly/ Don’t really know how I got here.”

The album continues the optimistic tone with songs like “Marching On” and “Waking Up,” the album’s title track. The anthemic single ‘All the Right Moves,’ however, seems to reveal Tedder’s consciousness of fame’s brevity.He sings, “I know things are looking up, but soon they’ll take us down/ Before anybody’s knowing our name.” 

There is some reminiscense of the bubbly pop that dominiated the early and mid-2000s. Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” comes to mind. Without the complex string and piano instrumentation, the album is borderline cliché. Tedder’s soulful falsetto also helps put the group a step above more pedestrian pop artists.

The songs that stand out are ones that break the format of a traditional pop song. “Missing Persons 1 & 2” has an unexpected break and finishes almost as a completely different song. This song accomplishes Tedder’s “hair standing on end feeling” he mentions on the band’s website.

Tedder was recently nominated for two Grammys—not for his work with his band, but for co-writing and producing Beyonce’s single “Halo” and album “I am...Sasha Fierce.” If the band continues down their successful path, they’ll likely have a Grammy nod of their own in the future.