East London act Now Ex are an exciting new band creating a unique electronic sound with a cinematic edge. Film director Nick Hampson and collaborator Harry Brokensha are back with their newest single, First Light, which keeps to the nature of Now Ex’s dark tone but with driving synth bass and a new alternative pop edge. This is another track that showcases Nick’s classically trained vocals beautifully and illustrates their artistic diversity, which is a taster for the upcoming EP out later this year.

The narrative of First Light shows two people with different struggles and vices, but a magnetic chemistry. However, it’s clear they might want different things. He’s after sex, she’s after substances. He’s aware of the beautiful ways the city light silhouettes her body, she’s interested in how it makes him lose his identity. Ultimately, he will settle for being lost as long as she’s lost too. The song ends with a slight uplift, when he asks if she’d like to sleep on his shoulder, to which she responds ‘anything to know how it feels to be on you’. Perhaps it’s a sign of better things to come, perhaps it still represents a short term high. Either way, there’s a solidarity in collective loneliness for him and it’s enough for now, until we do it all again tomorrow night.

“First Light explores feeling lost in your twenties in a big city and being okay with bringing someone else down with you, however selfish it may seem. The song explores the lure and pressure of escapism, hedonism, even right of passage, that goes along with being young in a major urban centre. It’s a thin line between the best night of your life and a cry for help, and so often they can seemingly intertwine.” - Nick Hampson

After meeting in Oxford at University, Harry and Nick have delved into the world of cinema, songwriting and performance which has led them to their newest project, Now Ex. Nick is a celebrated film director and Harry scored his last two movies, the latest of which ‘In the Cold Dark Night’ aired on ABC in the US to an audience of 4 million people in July, 2020. Nick and Harry have big plans for using Now Ex as a vehicle to create music for their upcoming feature film and TV projects.

The Now Ex debut EP, due out later this year, is alternative pop at the intersection of electronic and orchestral, giving it an unusual but infectious quality. The music is glued together by Hampson’s versatile, often soaring vocals and honest lyrical style with tracks that take on an orchestral flare and electronic energy making them unmistakably alt-pop songs, with their singable choruses and fresh pop production. Although it has an overriding dark quality there is also optimism and hope throughout.

‘First Light’ is out on 28th August and will be available on all streaming platforms.

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