At one time, Adam Young, 25, was making music in his parents’ basement in his hometown of Owatonna, Minn. Now, he’s known as Owl City, the one-man band responsible for hits such as the quadruple-platinum “Fireflies.”

Owl City picks up where Death Cab For Cutie’s side project Postal Service left off, according to some music critics, with whom I am not afraid to disagree. Postal Service’s one and only album “Give Up,” released in 2003, features similar electropop synths to Owl City, minus Young’s lyrical depth and technical complexity.

Between his 2009 debut album with Universal Republic, “Ocean Eyes,” and his latest, “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” Young claims to have devoted much time to studying the capabilities of his equipment, and it shows. For those who enjoyed the yawn-worthy and one-sound synths of Postal Service, consider Owl City to be the much more musically capable older cousin. Or, to put it another way, Owl City is like the electrically-charged Colorado duo 3oh!3, except you would not be ashamed to let your mother take a listen.

Young is an ultra-shy technical genius who spent his nights as an insomniac, recording and posting music to his MySpace page after spending his days as a Coca-Cola truck loader. Producing under the name Owl City, Young quickly garnered a loyal fan base, and, eventually, the attention of record label Universal Republic. The mega-popular platinum album “Ocean Eyes” saw the release of such radio favorites as “Vanilla Twilight,” “Hello Seattle,” and, of course, “Fireflies.”

But what is it about Owl City that makes the quirky, heavy-tech and shockingly innocent music so popular?

A professed devout Christian, Young’s faith is apparent in his unabashedly G-rated music, and many of his song titles, including  “The Bird and The Worm,” and  and “Honey and the Bee” sound as if they could be the titles of children’s books.

Perhaps the most appealing element of Owl City is that its music explores an alternate universe — both literally, as in the world of “Fireflies,” where lightning bugs can give hugs, and figuratively, in that the space age, emotionally-charged and earnest beats mark a dramatic break from the music world as we know it today.

Regardless, it is no surprise, really, that Owl City was chosen for inclusion in the album “Almost Alice,” inspired by Tim Burton’s 2010 version of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Welcome to Wonderland, music-lovers.

“Bright and Beautiful” is not a dramatic departure from “Ocean Eyes,” so loyal fans should not be disappointed. While “Bright and Beautiful” demonstrates a lot of technical growth, including a surprising collaboration with rapper Shawn Chrystopher in the song “Alligator Sky,” it exhibits the same fantasy and innocence of “Ocean Eyes.”

Personal favorites among the 12-song collection of “Bright and Beautiful” include “Deer In the Headlights,” “Dreams Don’t Turn To Dust” and “The Real World,” which poignantly states: “Reality is a lovely place / But I wouldn’t wanna live there.”

Also among the collection is a brief, 38-second bit, “January 28, 1986,” commemorating the day of the Challenger space shuttle disaster that killed all seven crew members aboard. Young hums softly in the background, as former President Ronald Reagan’s words play in the background. Perhaps Young particularly identified with the crew in what President Reagan’s recording refers to as “a hunger to explore the universe.”

The only real complaint that can be waged against “Bright and Beautiful” is the track “Kamikaze” which, although starting as bubbly and innocently as most of Owl City’s repertoire, quickly takes a turn for the odd. Nearing the chorus, the unsung “Oh comet, come down” bits sound as if they are being shouted by the one and only Weird Al Yankovic which, even for Weird Al fans, is annoyingly out of place.

As far as a sophomore slump is concerned, though, with “Bright and Beautiful,” Young’s Owl City proves that the electropop phenomenon is not going anywhere. And, if you just can’t get enough of Owl City, you’re in luck— he’ll be making a stop at The Pageant with Days Difference on Monday, Nov. 7 for the third leg of his “Bright and Beautiful” world headlining tour.

Tickets are still available for the performance through The Pageant’s box office at thepageant.com. The show is open to all ages, with a $2 minor surcharge at the door.

For more on Owl City, visit owlcitymusic.com.