Here at THP, we’ve been here for X Ambassadors since ‘Unsteady’ and we’re glad we stuck around! On April 5th, they released Townie and after listening, we knew we had to share it with you. If you’re ready to take a trip down memory lane, grab your headphones and get ready to fall in love with X Ambassadors’ latest project.
If you haven’t already, listen to Townie here.
The Story
We feel that in order for you to truly enjoy this album, you need to hear the story. Townie is a reminiscent journey from the band growing up Ithaca, New York spanning across 12 nostalgia-filled tracks. Sam shared a beautiful sentiment with us behind the album.
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. 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.
Sam Nelson Harris on Townie
Our Take On Townie
Townie is one of those albums that feels incredibly personal despite it being about somewhere you may have never even been before. ‘Sunoco’ in particular, really touched us and brought on the nostalgia. As the opening track, it perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the album by exploring the feeling of being young, doing stupid things with friends, and thinking about it several years later. Similar experiences are explored in ‘Smoke On The Highway,’ which we also adore.
We could talk about this album all day long but this album is one best experienced without spoilers. However, we do have to highlight our love for ‘Start a Band.’ This track brings out all the feelings, especially for long term X Ambassadors fans. Singing along to “one day, this rollercoaster will get your face on your bedroom poster” while having their faces on a poster really creates a shared nostalgic feeling between both fans and the band. ‘Start a Band’ wraps up all the feel-good nostalgia from the album within one track, leaving room for both reminiscing on X Ambassadors career as well as what the future holds. Yeah, we might need some tissues.
We Have Even More To Share
Are you in need of more from X Ambassadors following Townie? You’re in luck, the band will have embarked on a 44-city North American tour! Tickets for the remaining cities are available here, including their hometown, Ithaca. Which we can only imagine will be an extra special show. Want a sneak peek of what your show may look like? Check out this live performance of ‘No Strings’ on Late Night With Seth Myers.
We want to know all your thoughts on Townie and if you’ll be attending the tour! Let us know by tweeting us @TheHoneyPop or find us buzzing on Facebook and Instagram. But, before you go, we leave you with one more quote from Sam.
This is Townie. For my town and Casey’s, for Adam’s and Russ’, and for you and yours. For the Townies in all of us.
Sam Harris Nelson on Townie
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