FUN. SOME NIGHTS Having earned widespread acclaim with their 2009 debut album, Aim & Ignite, fun. decided to raise the stakes with this album, their first on Fueled By Ramen, by teaming with noted producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Drake).The first single from Some Nights, "We Are Young (Feat. Janelle Monáe)," has generated quite a buzz, hitting the top 3 on The Hype Machine music blog aggregator in its first week of release, not to mention the top 5 on iTunes' "Top Alternative Songs" sales ranking. What's more, "We Are Young" has received major airplay from KCRW's influential Morning Becomes Eclectic, while USA Today applauded the "baroque indie-popsters" for "(making) a counterintuitive play for the big time, slowing down for the massive singalong chorus."
First, a word about the auto-tuning. I will say that I am generally averse to electric manipulation of the voice. The difference here is that Fun. uses auto-tuning, not to compensate for the soloist's inability to sing (as a disturbingly increasing number of popular artists do these days -- as we have seen in his live performances Nate Ruess can really belt one out). Fun. uses auto-tune as a completely valid musical instrument; it's done tastefully and appropriately, not to..
