X Ambassadors Announce New Album 'Townie' With First Single No Strings
Monday, 22 January 2024
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Tyler Jay Hanson
X Ambassadors have announced a new album.
'Townie' will arrive through Virgin Music Group on April 5, following up 2021's 'The Beautiful Liar' and 2023's collaborative project '(Eg)', a series of singles with Breland, Teddy Swims and Jac Roos, Medium Build and PAMÉ.
Brothers Sam Nelson Harris and Casey Harris with Adam Levin have teased the 12-song record with the intimate first single, No Strings, which begins with gentle vocals over a finger-picked acoustic melody before shifting into a thumping alt-rock track. It comes with a video created by childhood friend Danny Pfeffer and students at Cornell University, below.
The reflective new music follows the trio's move from their roots in Ithaca, New York to Brooklyn, and looks back at their small town origins that shaped them before heading to the big city. Lead vocalist Sam commented:
"Ithaca is so isolated, and growing up there like Casey and I did we did whatever we could to give ourselves little ways to escape: riding around town aimlessly on our bikes, on city busses, or in our parents cars; getting lost in the woods, getting into whatever trouble we could find, dangling our feet off the edges of waterfalls with our friends, making out with high school crushes on the cold winter night, snot dribbling into each other’s mouths… ways that make you feel like the world is bigger, and like there’s nothing holding you back from getting out there."
He continued: "As a grown man, I’ve fallen back in love with upstate NY, and I oddly feel blessed to have had something to rally so hard against/fight to escape from as a kid. You can't hide who you are, and who you are is where you’re from. No Strings is an anthem for the lost and hungry—in forgotten cities and towns and townships all over the world—whose restlessness will always burn, and keep the fire in their bellies fed."
Reflecting on the concept behind the project, Sam added, "A gas station glows in the night, two miles from the Tompkins County line. It cuts through the bleak, winter night like a grotesque, twenty-first century lighthouse. To the east— the college town of Ithaca, NY. To the west, everything else. The air is cold and unforgiving. The landscape every shade of grey and brown on the color-wheel. A couple of teenagers loiter in the parking lot, plotting their escape. Most of them know they won’t ever leave this town, so tonight their escape is a temporary one. Rollies and half-drank liters of Mountain Dew. Grapefruit blunts and chapped lips. Their baggy clothes full of restlessness and longing. This is 'Townie'."
The band recently shared Deep End, which was penned and recorded for the 2023 film, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom.
X Ambassadors will tour the UK, Europe and North America between February and June. All new dates go on general sale at 10am on January 26.
'Townie' tracklist:
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
X Ambassadors Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Wed February 07 2024 - BERLIN Columbia Theater (Germany)
Thu February 08 2024 - HAMBURG Fabrik (Germany)
Fri February 09 2024 - COPENHAGEN Pumpehuset (Denmark)
Sun February 11 2024 - OSLO Rockefeller Music Hall (Norway)
Mon February 12 2024 - STOCKHOLM Berns (Sweden)
Tue February 13 2024 - MALMO Saluhall (Sweden)
Thu February 15 2024 - HELSINKI APOLLO LIVE CLUB (Finland)
Sat February 17 2024 - RIGA Palladium Riga (Latvia)
Sun February 18 2024 - VILNIUS Compensa Concert Hall (Lithuania)
Tue February 20 2024 - WARSAW Progresja (Poland)
Wed February 21 2024 - PRAHA SaSaZu (Czech Republic)
Thu February 22 2024 - FRANKFURT Batschkapp (Germany)
Fri February 23 2024 - MUNICH Theaterfabrik (Germany)
Sun February 25 2024 - COLOGNE Burgerhaus Stollwerck (Germany)
Tue February 27 2024 - MILAN Magazzini Generali (Italy)
Wed February 28 2024 - ZURICH Dynamo (Switzerland)
Thu February 29 2024 - PARIS Elysee Montmatre (France)
Fri March 01 2024 - AMSTERDAM Melkweg (Netherlands)
Sun March 03 2024 - BIRMINGHAM XOYO
Tue March 05 2024 - GLASGOW St Lukes
Wed March 06 2024 - BRISTOL SWX
Thu March 07 2024 - LONDON Electric Ballrooom
Fri March 08 2024 - LIVERPOOL Hangar 34
Fri April 05 2024 - VANCOUVER British Columbia - Vogue Theatre - BC (Canada)
Thu April 11 2024 - EDMONTON Alberta - Union Hall - Edmonton (Canada)
Tue April 16 2024 - LONDON ON Ontario - London Music Hall (Canada)
Wed April 17 2024 - MONTREAL Quebec - MTELUS (Canada)
Thu April 18 2024 - OTTAWA Ontario - Bronson Centre Theatre (Canada)
Sat May 04 2024 - SAN DIEGO California - Observatory - North Park (USA)
Sun May 05 2024 - PIONEERTOWN California - Pappy and Harriets (USA)
Tue May 07 2024 - SAN LUIS OBISPO California - Fremont Theater (USA)
Wed May 08 2024 - SAN FRANCISCO California - August Hall (USA)
Fri May 10 2024 - PORTLAND Oregon - Hawthorne Theatre (USA)
Sat May 11 2024 - SEATTLE Washington - Showbox (USA)
Mon May 13 2024 - SALT LAKE CITY Utah - Depot - Salt Lake City (USA)
Tue May 14 2024 - DENVER Colorado - Ogden Theatre (USA)
Wed May 15 2024 - COLORADO SPRINGS Colorado - Pikes Peak Center (USA)
Fri May 17 2024 - OMAHA Nebraska - Slowdown (USA)
Sat May 18 2024 - MINNEAPOLIS Minnesota - Varsity Theater - MN (USA)
Sun May 19 2024 - DES MOINES Iowa - Wooly's (USA)
Tue May 21 2024 - CHICAGO Illinois - House Of Blues - Chicago (USA)
Wed May 22 2024 - GRAND RAPIDS Michigan - Elevation at The Intersection (USA)
Fri May 24 2024 - DETROIT Michigan - Saint Andrews Hall - Detroit (USA)
Sat May 25 2024 - MILWAUKEE Wisconsin - Rave - Milwaukee (USA)
Sun May 26 2024 - CLEVELAND Ohio - House Of Blues - Cleveland (USA)
Tue May 28 2024 - PITTSBURGH Pennsylvania - Mr Small's Theatre (USA)
Wed May 29 2024 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - Brooklyn Bowl - Philadelphia (USA)
Fri May 31 2024 - NEW YORK New York - Irving Plaza (USA)
Sat June 01 2024 - ITHACA New York - State Theatre (USA)
Sun June 02 2024 - BOSTON Massachusetts - Paradise Rock Club (USA)
Tue June 04 2024 - WASHINGTON District Of Columbia - 9:30 Club (USA)
Wed June 05 2024 - NORFOLK Virginia - NorVa (USA)
Fri June 07 2024 - CHARLOTTE North Carolina - Underground - Charlotte (USA)
Sat June 08 2024 - ATLANTA Georgia - Buckhead Theatre (USA)
Sun June 09 2024 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - Basement East - Nashville (USA)
Tue June 11 2024 - DALLAS Texas - Granada Theater - Dallas (USA)
Wed June 12 2024 - AUSTIN Texas - Mohawk - Austin Outdoors (USA)
Fri June 14 2024 - PHOENIX Arizona - Van Buren (USA)
Sat June 15 2024 - LOS ANGELES California - Fonda Theatre (USA)
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