The pop-rock group – comprising of brothers, Sam Nelson Harris and Casey Harris, alongside Adam Levin – have blazed a trail in their career, dropping an explosive debut album, extensive global touring and huge hits with “Unsteady” and “Renegades”, alongside collaborations with fellow industry heavyweights, Lizzo, Rihanna, The Weeknd and SZA.
The band has just released the debut single, “No Strings,” from their upcoming album, accompanied by an official music video. In this infectious track, the rockers showcase an intimate side with tender vocals and lively acoustics. While the song beautifully captures the essence of their hometown, it takes an exhilarating turn around the one-minute mark. The tempo rises, unveiling a bouncing, rousing alternative rock anthem that positions the group for an exciting year ahead in 2024.
Reflecting on the track’s inspirations, lead vocalist, Sam Nelson Harris, shares, “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 continues, “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.”
“Townie” marks a compelling new chapter for the group as they return to their upstate New York roots. With a set of deeply introspective and personal tracks, the group crafts an intricate portrait of their hometown and surrounding community.
Touching on the eagerly anticipated arrival of the album, Sam moves on to share, “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.”
Filmed in Ithaca, New York, the video was recorded via the creative lens of childhood friend, Danny Pfeffer with the help of his students at Cornell University.
Watch the video…