American alternative rock band X Ambassadors hails from Ithaca, New Jersey and is made up of four male members, a pair of brothers, a childhood friend and a school friend. Now based in Brooklyn, the group – which started life as just the Ambassadors – prides itself on making “dark” tunes that seamlessly blend acoustic, electric, and electronic sounds.
The band was first created whilst three of its members, singer/songwriter Sam Harris, his brother Casey Harris, who plays the keyboard, and guitarist Noah Feldshuh, were still at college. Following graduation, the three moved to New York and teamed up with drummer Adam Levin, whom Sam Harris had met while attending New School in the city. X Ambassadors released its debt, Love Songs Drug Songs, on Interscope in 2012. However, it wasn’t until two years later that the group really caught the attentions of the music industry, when their song, The Jungle, was played as the backing song for an advert for Dr. Dre's headphones company Beats by Dre.
Taking this success and newfound celebrity and running with it, X Ambassadors went on to release their third album, The Reason, which found a host of new fans and cemented the band’s popularity with existing listeners.
This year, the group put out their first full-length album, VHS, which was produced by Alex Da Kid and released through digital download and on CD. Featuring 20 tracks, the album includes three previously released songs and seven interludes. VHS includes the hit single Renegades. It is thought that this single is what propelled the album into seventh position on the Billboard 200.
