New Town beautifully capture relationships with debut EP, Lost In The City.
Lost In The City is a collection of 4 songs with amazing lyrics and incredible sounds. Lyrically, New Town are able to capture what it means to be in a relationship of any kind. Each track represents an individual journey, and everyone that listens to them will relate to different parts.
Title track ‘Lost In The City’ tells a story of a romance and wondering if it is really worth the effort. It begins by spotting someone who you wouldn’t normally look at, “I met this girl, lost in the city, she’s not really my usual type“. It describes the place you are with this person being beautiful but you can only look at them. This is short lived though, “nothing lasts forever”, and the doubt begins to set in, “have I been chasing nothing?”. I really enjoyed listening to this because lots of people will have lived this scenario before, making the lyrics relatable.
Second song ‘Spark’ continues the romance and relationship concepts. The upbeat track tells a tale of looking for someone to give you a specific purpose. “Living for the weekend” is a lyric about going out with friends while “searching for a meaning“. Like ‘Lost In The City’, this song asks questions some listeners will have asked themselves before, “I’m falling apart, is there any wonder?”. This lyric could relate to anything, which is also what makes this song relatable.
‘The River’ is the next song, similar to the prior two songs in relation to what they are about. This song, however is also one about reflection and planning ahead. The lyrics in this one are general enough that they could describe a romantic relationship but also friendships. “I can’t stop thinking about the mess that I got myself in,” is a great lyric, putting into words what a lot of people feel when they think back on previous times. But this doesn’t stop planning ahead for new experiences, “just trying to figure out all the things that I want to begin.” I really admire this song, it narrates good times, perhaps things went wrong, but there are always other opportunities.
The final song on the EP, ‘Sail Away’ is my personal favourite. As much as I enjoy the other three tracks, this final one seems to be the most personal. It describes really liking someone but other people have negative views of the potential relationship. It is about wanting to run away with someone, “sail away with me“. The lyric, “I see nothing but rainbows in my mind,” expresses not seeing anything wrong with that person, or being with them. In the bridge of the track, there is a change of heart. “Tell me lies, make me cry, your true colours show,” is an opportunity to see “what the others see”.
While this review primarily looks at lyrics, if words aren’t quite your thing, each song on this EP is very easy to listen to. They are far from boring tracks and will have something for everyone to enjoy. The artwork is also very pleasing to look at. Key landmarks from Glasgow stand out like “The Barras”, home to markets and famous venue The Barrowlands. King Tuts also stands out, where New Town have recently played, debuting this EP.