Think “Vacation Manor,” and you might picture a countryside escape—cows, quilts, and a dozen sheep fighting for Wi-Fi. But if your ear’s tuned to the hum of indie rock’s best-kept secrets, you already know better. Since 2016, Nathan Towles and Cole Young have been spinning shimmer into sound, raising glasses (and catching stray toasts in the moonlight) with tracks like ‘A Toast and a Spirit,’ and hitting the road with Briston Maroney and Night Traveler. Now, like a muso ghost returning to its favorite haunt, they’re back with a new EP: Back To Town. We caught up with the duo to talk possible seasonal threads, life on the road, and everything in between.
It’s pretty clever that the lead track, ‘January (Over & Over),’ was released in January this year. We especially love a lyric in the first verse: “When they all made resolutions / It started messing with your head.” How do you think seeing others reach the goals you’re working towards—or even surpass them—has influenced your own progress in achieving your goals?
That lyric came to me as I thought back on being at a New Year’s Eve party one year and overheard people having conversations about resolutions and goals for the year. I was in a season where I felt pretty burnt out at the time, and hearing those conversations sent me into a bit of a panic, wondering if I had lost my sense of purpose or clarity for my life. It was a passing feeling, but those types of specific moments are often inspiring for me as a songwriter.
We’ve been around long enough to have seen some bands we came up with break up and others go on to be way bigger than us. I think comparison is and will always be a struggle for artists, but I think as a band we feel such a greater sense of groundedness in where we’re at and gratitude for what we’ve been able to achieve than we did as a younger band.
This track’s production wasn’t outsourced—it was handled entirely within Vacation Manor. What was it about this song that made you want to keep full creative control rather than bring in an outside producer?
We had tried working with a few really great producers at the beginning of this EP, and the songs kept feeling like they lacked a distinct Vacation Manor identity. I think part of that was that our vision for the record hadn’t fully evolved when we first set out. Over the past few years, Cole had gotten really good at engineering, and we finally just decided to give self-production a shot. We’re really proud of how everything turned out and feel a really deep connection to this set of songs.
The second track, ‘You, In The Afternoon,’ has had quite a journey. It started with just the word ‘You’ on your self-titled album, then evolved into the ‘You (Midnight Version)’ remix, and now we’ve arrived at the afternoon. What does the symbolism behind these time-of-day motifs mean to you?
That’s an interesting connection to make! ‘You, In the Afternoon wasn’t intended to reference our song ‘You’ from the last record, but if anyone hears it as an extension of that song, we’re all for it! When we started making “midnight versions,” it was really just a way of seeing if some of our more upbeat songs could work in an arrangement that you’d want to listen to late at night when everyone else is asleep. We care a lot about melody, and I think a good melody can always be interpreted in tons of different ways.
We also love how ‘You, In The Afternoon’ might explore being stuck on the muse from the other track while acknowledging it might be the end, the final song on this theme. How do you know when you’ve said everything you need to about a subject and it’s time to move on?
It’s always so cool to hear how listeners interpret songs and how they fit together in someone else’s imagination. For me, ‘You, In the Afternoon’ isn’t about a relationship ending but more about knowing the season you’re in is passing and wondering how to stay present and enjoy the moment without waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The ‘Back To Town’ music video shows both of you performing throughout a minimalist house. Which room or place saw the most songwriting during this EP’s creation?
The writing for this EP was all over the place. We wrote some in our studio, some over Zoom with some trusted collaborators (Nick Purvis & Jason Boesel), and then a few were written with Trent Dabbs in Nashville.
We love how you flip the “one that got away” trope in ‘Damage Is Done’ with the lyric, “I guess the better side of me is the one that got away.” It’s especially powerful alongside the harmonica, often associated with feelings of loneliness. What does that line mean to you?
That song was written to my wife in an anxious season she was going through. The promise of the song is that even if your worries come true, I’ll still be here, and I’m not going anywhere. Even though the song is meant to be comforting, I wanted to be honest in that song and also acknowledge the times when I don’t show up for her well. Most people are used to “the one that got away” referring to someone you missed out on. I liked that idea of using that to say sometimes my better qualities get away from me.
‘Casio Cure’ echoes similar themes to ‘January (Over & Over),’ touching on the feeling of being left behind while everyone else chases their dreams. It also features a brilliant guitar riff around the 2:36 mark. What made this track a must-have for the EP, especially since it had to be heard fresh when the record dropped, rather than as a pre-release?
We must have written lyrics for that song five different times until finding the set that fit the music. For a few years, it was a lyricless demo that was stuck in our heads. The song’s co-writer, Nick Purvis, has been a friend of mine since early high school, and we all agreed there was this kind of angst to music, so we tried to write into that to make it about our shared aimlessness in our teen years. There’s a unique sadness to that age when you have seemingly limitless potential, so much freedom, and yet don’t know where to go in life.
‘When It’s All Over’ is a fitting title for a closing track, especially with the opening lyric about the days blending into one and the reference to September, which ties back to the album’s January theme. Was framing it like the end of a calendar year intentional?
Great observation with the reference to the time of year in those songs. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I really like that thought. ‘You, In the Afternoon’ is on side A of the EP and references a “daffodil smile” and was written about the springtime. I guess we unintentionally held to the timeline of a calendar year!
You’ve been out on the road for The Back To Town Tour—what’s it been like seeing the reaction to these songs before the EP is officially out?
It’s been really special! It feels like such a compliment to see people singing every word of these recently released songs. We feel really lucky to have fans who continue to care about what we put out and aren’t just tied to one era of the band’s music.
Playing off your band’s name, Vacation Manor, which song from the record is the ultimate “staring out the window on a road trip” moment?
Hmm.. If I had to choose one to put on a playlist for a road trip, I think my pick would be ‘Casio Cure.’
We’re thrilled that Vacation Manor is Back To Town—and we want to hear from you. What’s your favorite track off the new EP? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and let us know!
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