In the age of iTunes, I often find myself spending a lot of time picking specific songs off of albums to buy. Maybe I’m too cheap and just don’t want to fork over the $12.99 for the full album, but nevertheless, music has become a lot less about the whole album and more about the specific songs. With that said, I recently found myself dropping $13.99 for OneRepublic’s newest album, “Native.”

Filled with 14 new and original tracks as well as three acoustic recordings, “Native” reminds us all why we fell in love with OneRepublic back in 2007 when the band released “Apologize,” and then again with “Stop and Stare,” “Say (All I Need)” and basically every other hit single produced since it signed with Mosley Music Group in 2006 (it is currently signed with Interscope). The exact style of OneRepublic is hard to pinpoint. Even lead vocalist Ryan Tedder admits that the group is “no respecter of genre…nothing’s new under the sun; we’re a sum of a bunch of parts.” But it doesn’t really matter if it’s pop or rock—this group is consistent and powerful in terms of sound and lyrics.

This new album starts off with “Counting Stars,” which begins the album’s hypnotic yet extremely energetic vibe. I found myself bobbing to the chorus and quickly learning the lyrics, prompting me to belt out, “No more counting dollars. We’ll be counting stars,” in my dorm room. “Native” continues strongly with “If I Lose Myself” and “Feel Again,” the latter of which which was released as a single back in August. But the album doesn’t stop there. Song after song, Ryan Tedder invites you to become part of this trance-like story, and I was there for every step of the way. Whereas I sometimes find myself becoming bored listening to an entire album, I moved through this whole album in an afternoon as if in some kind of music-fueled reverie, even after the “Preacher” track, which may be one of the few downsides to this album. Overall, however, I was impressed by the way this band managed to sound fresh and new while still sounding exactly like the OneRepublic I have loved all these years.

Whether I was clapping and dancing to more upbeat tracks like “If I Lose Myself” and “Life In Color” or swaying to slower jams like “Can’t Stop”—which is reminiscent of Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” (co-written by Tedder )—I was in love with the whole album and once again inspired by OneRepublic’s lyrics. I was left very pleased with my purchase and very much wishing I had a car on campus so I could pop in “Native,” roll down my windows and jam.