When our Makin Waves columnist Bob Makin connects us with local talent and their new releases, it is almost always becomes an immediate favorite.
“Only live once there’s no part two,” sings Young Orange on his new single. The song, titled “The Town,” is one where you can feel the authentic emotions dripping in the artist’s voice, but also in the instrumentation. Young Orange layers the acoustics with the backbeats and his harmonies to create a sense of contrast. Yes, there is a cool melody and a groove to this new song, but the weight of the story is very real – growing up, getting out, and gaining momentum in this rough and tumble world can take time and be a battle. Every young adult has been there, but the way Young Orange himself expresses it through music helps you feel less alone. This is our one life, and as stressful as it can be, it is all we have.
In the new music video that came out at the end of last week, the singer-songwriter and producing prodigy stands alone in the hills of what looks like a ‘golden hour’ in Hollywood. (Locals know it as “The Top of the World,” actually above Laguna Beach.) The sprawling landscape shrinks him as the camera pulls away, but as he stands there alone, he also stands tall. Fans can take note of how Young Orange fills the screen, whether it be on your cell phone or computer or even TV, with not just him and his guitar, but this song. “The Town” takes over and is grand in its modern alternative sounds and tortured truth. Only the most confident and viable of artists can come across so strong in a swirling, solo video, but with his guitar in hand… it feels effortless.
Young Orange is a New Jersey native and comes from Lacey, a South Jersey township on the edge of the bustling music scene down in that area. At just 24, he prides himself in being a creative through-and-through. His first single, “For The Low,” released in 2017, and now six years later he has improved and evolved, but not through losing himself. The visuals of nature in his single releases alongside the humbleness of his lyrics has only grown with him. The pretty skies and bright flowers that adorned the artwork in the later 2010s has become the grand scenery of waterfalls and shadows of the early 2020s. His rhythm was evident on 2021’s “The Doors,” which we hear again on “The Town,” but he owns the artistry of this newer song with the way he stays true to honing in on just his voice, his guitar, and the world falling away around him in the video. (Although, the video for “The Doors” was a fun one with the bustling boardwalk and beaches. Still, he is able to be himself here and not get swallowed up by the busy spaces or the quiet terrain – that is a testament to who he is.)
“THE TOWN,” THE NEW SINGLE FROM NJ’S YOUNG ORANGE, IS OUT NOW!
