American pop rock band X Ambassadors, composed of brothers Sam Nelson Harris and Casey Harris along with Adam Levin, has released their latest album, Townie, on April 5th via Virgin Music. Accompanying the release is a visualizer for their new song, ‘Smoke on the Highway’.
In a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the band treated fans to a live performance of ‘No Strings,’ one of the tracks from their new album.
The album represents a significant shift for X Ambassadors as they delve into the essence of their hometown in upstate New York, capturing the everyday essence and the community spirit that shaped them. The album explores the mundane yet profound aspects of their upbringing in Ithaca.
Leading up to the album launch, the band previewed several tracks including ‘Follow The Sound of My Voice,’ ‘Your Town,’ ‘Half-Life,’ and the aforementioned ‘No Strings,’ which has already garnered attention, climbing to #25 on AAA Radio charts.
X Ambassadors’ Sam Nelson Harris Shared The Meaning And Story Behind Their New Album Townie
Reflecting on the album, lead vocalist of X Ambassadors’ Sam Nelson Harris shared. “Townie is a home-coming album. Casey and I are from a small college-town in central New York called Ithaca. Ithaca is home to three universities: an Ivy Leaguer, a liberal arts conservatory, and a state community college. The students make up more than 50% of the population, and the town largely exists for and because of them. They’d call us ‘townies’— the people on the periphery who existed mostly as just background actors in the movies of their college experiences.
He further said. “I am a Townie. I will always be a Townie. To deny that is to deny everything that I am. And yes, my town was small, but the people I grew up with never let me think that the world wasn’t big and exciting and out there for the taking. In my town I was loved, I was encouraged, I was accepted, I was challenged, I was knocked down and picked back up again a million times. It might not have been the cultural Mecca I dreamed about, but we had a pretty sick independent movie theater and more than one good coffee shop.”
He concludes his statements by saying. “The Red Hot Chili Peppers never came to play our State Theater, but that meant less competition for the all-ages shows we’d put on at the Wownet Internet Cafe. The guys at the music store knew my mom, so they let me spend hours in there ‘testing out’ guitars and pedals and recording equipment like I was actually ever going to have the money to buy anything. No one ever made me feel like an idiot for having dreams.”
With its heartfelt homage to their upbringing, “Townie” marks a significant milestone for X Ambassadors, resonating with listeners who share similar sentiments about their own hometowns.
Townie Track Listing:
1. Sunoco
2. Smoke on the Highway
3. Your Town
4. I’m Not Really Here
5. Rashad
6. (first dam)
7. Fallout
8. Women’s Jeans
9. Half-Life
10. Follow the Sound of My Voice
11. Start A Band
12. No Strings
You can stream the new album Townie here.
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