ITHACA, NY (CortacaToday) — After getting the chance to interview Sam Harris of X Ambassadors, program director and on-air personality for Z95.5 Justin Bertolero gives a review of the X Ambassador’s new album “Townie”:

Ithaca is undeniably a college town. Like all college towns, it cycles through a nomadic class of students, visitors, and academics on a routine basis. But what does is it mean to be a “townie” in Ithaca? To stick it out through thick and thin, from fall semester, through summer, and back again?

Judging from Sam Harris’ lyricism on the X Ambassador’s latest album “Townie”, it’s about the same as any small town in America. Formed in Ithaca back in 2009 by brothers Sam and Casey Harris as well as drummer Adam Levin, the band has gone from playing local bars to touring the world. Their music has been featured in collaborations with artists like Lizzo, Rihanna, Eminem, the Weeknd, and SZA. Despite their relocation to Los Angeles and their expanded fanbase, Ithaca has always seemed to influence their music. The artwork of their 2015 breakthrough album “VHS” even features an image of Dey Street in Fall Creek. However, this is the first time the band has dedicated an entire album to their hometown.

Anyone who knows Ithaca will recognize countless references to local spots, such as “New Year’s at the Chanticleer…”, “meet me at the Thurston Ave Bridge”, “We drive past McCormick Prison out on 79”, and “lost his job last week bagging groceries at the P&C”. Beyond the superficial local references and universal feelings of nostalgia for one’s hometown, “Townie” sonically recreates the feeling of living in Upstate New York – the cold melancholy of winter, which is a consistent theme on the record.

The cold, grey moodiness isn’t only a reference to the wistful nostalgia one feels when recalling their childhood, but to the actual climate itself. When interviewing Sam for Z95.5, he said that they recorded the album in this region specifically to help them capture the mood of a New York winter. In our conversation, he described Ithaca as a “cold, lonely, depressing college town in the middle of nowhere”, but acknowledges its charm, calling it “beautiful and weird”. This dichotomy of jaded cynicism and nostalgic yearning serves as the bedrock for “Townie”.

On songs like “Your Town”, Sam recalls the night they signed their first record deal, celebrating at the Chanticleer. More importantly, Sam recalls a conversation they had with their guiding force and role model, Todd Peterson, who passed away in 2021. Todd told the band to not “forget about your town” – advice they seemingly took to heart and channeled into this album.

In another specific local reference, the song “First Dam” serves as a vignette, recalling a childhood incident where Sam is struck in the head with a rock. While receiving medical attention, Sam remembers that he “… smiled and waved at my friends, as they put me in the back of that ambulance”. He seemed to revel in the attention, and in the song, draws a parallel to the life of a songwriter. One must channel their pain and trauma, put it on display, in the hopes that someone will say ‘hey, I really like your song’.

In regard to channeling childhood pain into song, some of the most tender and heartfelt moments of the record are found on “Follow the Sound of My Voice”. The song’s title is literal, detailing the challenges of Sam’s brother and fellow bandmate Casey’s blindness. The song goes through a doctor’s diagnosis of “aggressive retinal degeneration” all the way to the Harris family discovering Casey is ‘Upstate New York’s blind piano prodigy’. This relationship seems to be the core of much of X Ambassador’s music; the push and pull of brotherhood, following each other’s musical ideas, as well as following each other’s literal voices.

While X Ambassador’s habit of genre bending is on full display, with “Townie”, the band has crafted their most melancholic and folk inspired record yet. One might think that this casts a negative light on Ithaca, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Instead, it shows how hard it is to fully resent the things that made you what you are.

On the album’s earworm of a closer “No Strings”, Sam sings “This town will suffocate ya. First they love ya, then they break ya. Driving 95 on 88. Never going back upstate”. This hubris and idealism of youth is a powerful thing, but eventually, everyone feels a calling back to where they came from.