After a four-year hiatus, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder’s cotton candy falsetto is back and in top flighty form. “Native” is soil oozing between your bare toes, the sound of waves crashing beyond a campfire. Its catchy, lilting first track “Counting Stars” sets the stage for an album that is equal parts bottomless night sky and searing sunshine. While the band’s surging orchestral motifs return in tracks like “Preacher” and “Au Revoir,” “Native” charts new territory by edging into Top 40 electro territory with the album’s ecstatic second single, “Feel Again.” Though studded with occasional low points (“What You Wanted” is a drag, “Light It Up” is swallowed by its own angry sound), OneRepublic serves up an earthy album for newcomers, avid hikers, and longtime fans alike.
Grade: A-
Sounds best when: Wandering barefoot through a redwood forest at dusk
99–Cent Downloads: “Counting Stars”
