Chicago's musical wizard Mike Kinsella is back with a new full-length record, continuing his solo endeavors as Owen. Ghost Town, out today on Polyvinyl, is the singer-songwriter's sixth studio album. It expands on the new territory and expanded sound introduced in 2009's New Leaves. Owen looks to an upbeat and pop-centric direction, and it definitely feels more polished this time around. It still retains the overall mentality of what Kinsella's been doing as Owen since 2001, which translates to: It sounds damn good.
No Place Like Home highlights Owen's knack for beautiful instrumentation and witty lyrics. The track feels so familiar even as it displays such a different style for Kinsella, which is what I find so charming. There's a lot going on musically for an artist I normally consider to be pretty bare boned when it comes to his songwriting. The song feels a lot fuller than past efforts with a lot more to offer than anything on New Leaves. Once the electric guitar kicks in toward the end, it's impossible to mistake the track for anything but one from Owen. It's awesome to see the evolution of an artist, especially when it can sound like this.
Listen to No Place Like Home and be sure to buy Ghost Town. You can even do it in person on Thursday night as Mike will be performing at Hailey's in Denton.
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