{"id":50605,"date":"2019-06-14T12:26:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T11:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=50605"},"modified":"2019-06-14T12:26:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T11:26:05","slug":"x-ambassadors-shoot-for-the-stars-with-new-album-orion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-shoot-for-the-stars-with-new-album-orion\/","title":{"rendered":"X Ambassadors Shoot For The Stars With New Album &#8216;ORION&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>If you&#8217;re unfamiliar with X Ambassadors, we recommend you make your acquaintance pronto with the trio from Ithaca, New York. Their new long player, &#8216;ORION&#8217;, is only the second studio album from the band on the KIDinaKORNER\/Interscope label, but it&#8217;s already making an impact with the single releases, &#8216;Boom&#8217;, &#8216;Hey Child&#8217;, and &#8216;Hold You Down&#8217;, as well as the recent track, &#8216;Confidence&#8217;, featuring K.Flay.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Random Ad stuff --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-ad-slot=\"3107208401\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2076862002005673\"><\/ins><\/p>\n<p><script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Named for the constellation Orion, and in turn the hunter in Greek mythology, the album will appeal to fans of The Lumineers, with its storytelling lyrics and soft sweet vocals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We can&#8217;t help wondering if\u00a0 there&#8217;s a connection between the album being named after a Greek hunter, and the band coming from a town named after a Greek island. &#8216;ORION&#8217; is eleven tracks long, and feels very autobiographical, so perhaps there is significance there.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The songs will flow over you, with lead singer Sam Harris&#8217;s voice a pleasant distraction from life&#8217;s troubles. Album opener, &#8216;Hey Child&#8217;, has a jaunty rhythm and a quirky whistling intro, but it belies the seriousness of the lyrics, which tell a story about two friends whose paths diverged, with the protagonist settling down and raising a family, while his friend followed a life of crime. This is followed by the rousing &#8216;Confidence&#8217; (to be fair, the entire album is rousing), which features a guest vocal by up and coming artist K.Flay. It&#8217;s a love song, with Harris&#8217;s falsetto vocals on the chorus perfectly contrasting K.Flay&#8217;s lighter tones. We can see this song featuring on future episodes of TV talent shows; it&#8217;s easy on the ear, and while lyrically it&#8217;s not particularly challenging, it&#8217;s fun.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8216;ORION&#8217; has an overall gospel\/Delta Blues feel, and songs such as &#8216;Hey Child&#8217;, and track three, &#8216;Quicksand&#8217;, call to mind for us the film, &#8216;Brother Where Art Thou&#8217;. It&#8217;s not even the style of the songs that makes us feel this, but rather the autobiographical feel of the songs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The standout track on the album has to be, in our minds at least, the magnificent &#8216;BOOM&#8217;. The bass at the start, and the lyrics,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My feet go boom boom boom<br \/>\nBoom boom boom, boom boom boom<br \/>\nMy heart beats boom boom boom<br \/>\nBoom boom boom, boom boom boom<br \/>\nHigh speed, go zoom zoom zoom<br \/>\nZoom zoom zoom, zoom zoom zoom<br \/>\nMy feet go boom boom boom<br \/>\nWalkin&#8217; away from you<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It&#8217;s a song about walking away from toxic relationships, with lead singer Sam Harris speaking from personal experience:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve had to break off a few of them recently myself, and I was writing all these sad songs because of it. I needed to write one to give me confidence again. To turn my pain into my power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So so catchy. The artwork for &#8216;BOOM&#8217; stands a mention, as it features the word, BOOM, written in Braille. It&#8217;s the first physical manifestation, of the band&#8217;s work, beyond the songs themselves, that keyboardist Casey Harris &#8211; blind from birth &#8211; has been able to view.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It&#8217;s very easy to get lost in the music on &#8216;ORION&#8217;, with Sam Harris adjusting his vocals for each song. &#8216;Rule&#8217; sees him maintaining a falsetto throughout, with the instrumentation primarily keyboard-led. By contrast, &#8216;History&#8217; feels very singer-songwriter, with Sam accompanied only by acoustic guitar, the faintest suggestion of percussion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Track 7, &#8216;Recover&#8217; sees the return of the gospel vibes, with an additional rock rhythm, and here we&#8217;re reminded of Canadian pop rockers, Marianas Trench, while &#8216;Wasteland&#8217; takes us on a bass and guitar trip through the Lincoln Tunnel.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There&#8217;s some very strong lyrical imagery right across the album, such as<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Drinkin&#8217; on my back porch, dreamin&#8217; we&#8217;ll get out<br \/>\nScuffin&#8217; up my white Vans, sneak out of your house<br \/>\nJust a couple kids, tryna figure it all out<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">in &#8216;Shadows&#8217;. We&#8217;ve got lost listening, which we always feel is a good sign.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8216;I Don&#8217;t Know How To Pray&#8217; reminds us once again of the vocals of Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench. Passionately, Sam pulls out all the stops in his entreaty to God to save his brother&#8217;s life, and to teach him to forgive; and you wonder what on earth has happened to drive him to this. As he sings,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8216;And God said -&#8216;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The singing ends abruptly, replaced by a spoken word section betwee (presumably) Sam and an unknown person, discussing about how life goes full circle. It was a nice shock to get back into the album, especially after the reverie of &#8216;Shadows&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Final track, &#8216;Hold You Down&#8217;, takes the album out with a bang. Bold and brash, they throw everything they&#8217;ve got into the track both lyrically and sonically, which Sam dedicates to his brother Casey, and is a tribute to the strength of their fraternal bond.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8216;ORION&#8217; by X-Ambassadors, is out today. Stream and download it <a href=\"https:\/\/smarturl.it\/ORIONXA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\">\n<div  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_60977\"  width=\"640\" height=\"360\"  data-origwidth=\"640\" data-origheight=\"360\"  data-relstop=\"1\" data-facadesrc=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zuFflKF6GuQ?enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/essentiallypop.com&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;color=red&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;rel=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__ epyt-facade epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" data-epautoplay=\"1\" ><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-spai-excluded=\"true\" class=\"epyt-facade-poster skip-lazy\" loading=\"lazy\"  alt=\"X Ambassadors - HOLD YOU DOWN (Official Video)\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/zuFflKF6GuQ\/maxresdefault.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"  \/><button class=\"epyt-facade-play\" aria-label=\"Play\"><svg data-no-lazy=\"1\" height=\"100%\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 68 48\" width=\"100%\"><path class=\"ytp-large-play-button-bg\" d=\"M66.52,7.74c-0.78-2.93-2.49-5.41-5.42-6.19C55.79,.13,34,0,34,0S12.21,.13,6.9,1.55 C3.97,2.33,2.27,4.81,1.48,7.74C0.06,13.05,0,24,0,24s0.06,10.95,1.48,16.26c0.78,2.93,2.49,5.41,5.42,6.19 C12.21,47.87,34,48,34,48s21.79-0.13,27.1-1.55c2.93-0.78,4.64-3.26,5.42-6.19C67.94,34.95,68,24,68,24S67.94,13.05,66.52,7.74z\" fill=\"#f00\"><\/path><path d=\"M 45,24 27,14 27,34\" fill=\"#fff\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re unfamiliar with X Ambassadors, we recommend you make your acquaintance pronto with the trio from Ithaca, New York. Their new long player, &#8216;ORION&#8217;, is only the second studio album from the band on the KIDinaKORNER\/Interscope label, but it&#8217;s already making an impact with the single releases, &#8216;Boom&#8217;, &#8216;Hey Child&#8217;, and &#8216;Hold You Down&#8217;, as well as the recent track, &#8216;Confidence&#8217;, featuring K.Flay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[21448,7,21455,9,21445,640],"tags":[1813,2730,3862,21659,6946,11720,6003,144,77,180,3445,226,1946,116,8689,12143],"class_list":["post-50605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-music","category-new-albums","category-new-releases","category-reviews","category-videos","tag-album-review","tag-delta-blues","tag-gospel","tag-ithaca","tag-k-flay","tag-lisa-hafey","tag-marianas-trench","tag-new-album","tag-new-release","tag-new-york","tag-orion","tag-pop","tag-pop-rock","tag-review","tag-the-lumineers","tag-x-ambassadors"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yMhl-dad","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49255,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/04\/x-ambassadors-to-release-new-album-orion-june-14-new-song-hey-child-out-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":0},"title":"X Ambassadors To Release New Album, &#8216;Orion&#8217; June 14 &#8211; New Song &#8216;Hey Child&#8217; Out Today","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"19\/04\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Multi-platinum selling rock band X Ambassadors will release their new album, ORION, June 14th on KIDinaKORNER\/Interscope Records. The set will feature current single 'BOOM' plus new song 'HEY CHILD' which is released today. X Ambassadors will follow up the album release performing album release shows in five cities where they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Concerts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/x-ambassadors.jpg?fit=461%2C322&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50329,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-share-hold-you-down-video-celebrating-brotherhood\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":1},"title":"X Ambassadors Share &#8216;Hold You Down&#8217; Video Celebrating Brotherhood","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"06\/06\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Multi-platinum selling rock band X Ambassadors release a new song from their forthcoming album 'ORION'. \u2018HOLD YOU DOWN\u2019 was produced by Ricky Reed and is available at all digital retailers.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-photo-credit-danny-lane.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-photo-credit-danny-lane.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-photo-credit-danny-lane.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/x-ambassadors-photo-credit-danny-lane.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56494,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-announce-the-orion-tour-playing-a-secret-london-venue\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":2},"title":"X Ambassadors Announce The Orion Tour &#8211; Playing A Secret London Venue","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"17\/10\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Multi-platinum chart-toppers X Ambassadors continue their ever-growing global live voyage with the announcement of The Orion Tour, which sees the band perform across international waters throughout February and March 2020.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Concerts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-orion-tour1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-orion-tour1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-orion-tour1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-orion-tour1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/x-ambassadors-orion-tour1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45529,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/01\/x-ambassadors-release-blisteringly-hot-new-single-boom\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":3},"title":"X Ambassadors Release Blisteringly Hot New Single &#8216;BOOM&#8217;","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"27\/01\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"'BOOM' does exactly what it says on the tin - blisteringly hot straight out of the gates it's a funky rock track - almost disco with a strong bassline that rumbles right through you, and is sure to set the charts ablaze. Released on Friday January 25, it's out via\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Releases&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/X-Ambassadors2.jpg?fit=398%2C398&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2020\/06\/walk-off-the-earth-drop-upbeat-song-oh-what-a-feeling\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":4},"title":"Walk Off the Earth Drop Upbeat Song &#8216;Oh What A Feeling&#8217;","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"27\/06\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Canadian pop band Walk Off the Earth has released their new single, 'Oh What A Feeling', available on all digital streaming platforms now via The Orchard. The upbeat track was co-written by Nate Ruess of fun., K.Flay, and Captain Cuts.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Walk-Off-The-Earth.jpg?fit=1099%2C724&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Walk-Off-The-Earth.jpg?fit=1099%2C724&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Walk-Off-The-Earth.jpg?fit=1099%2C724&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Walk-Off-The-Earth.jpg?fit=1099%2C724&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Walk-Off-The-Earth.jpg?fit=1099%2C724&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47982,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/03\/x-ambassadors-release-video-for-boom-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":50605,"position":5},"title":"X Ambassadors Release Video For &#8216;BOOM&#8217; Today","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"19\/03\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"KIDinaKORNER\/Interscope rock band X Ambassadors\u2019 latest single 'BOOM' was co-written by the band and produced by Ricky Reed (Twenty One Pilots, Leon Bridges).","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/boom.jpg?fit=586%2C330&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/boom.jpg?fit=586%2C330&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/boom.jpg?fit=586%2C330&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/xambassadorsorion.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}