You Know I'm Not Going Anywhere

Have the Districts belatedly discovered new wave? Probably not, but on their fourth album, 2020s You Know Im Not Going Anywhere, the Pennsylvania quartet have taken several steps back from the jangly, slightly rootsy indie rock sound that defined their early work. Instead, You Know Im Not Going Anywhere reflects a cooler, more processed approach dominated by vintage synthesizer patches and a spacious, echoey production that makes tunes like Hey Jo, Changing, and My Only Ghost feel like lost relics from the era of sideways haircuts. That doesnt reflect every song on the album, but when the mostly acoustic Descend ends with a cascade of layered atmospheric loops, and Dancer becomes crowded with clouds of saxophone and artificial ambience, theres no mistaking that the Districts were eager to take a new creative path on this album. While some groups sound uncertain when they set foot in uncharted territory, thats not at all the case here; You Know Im Not Going Anywhere is a bold, confident work full of passion and the desire to take chances. The production and arrangements on these songs may present some surprises for fans of the Districts, but melodically this is very much in their wheelhouse, heartfelt and rooted in everyday realities (when was the last time you heard a band sing with nostalgia about watching a cat being born?), and even at its most polished and sleek, You Know Im Not Going Anywhere boasts a very real and human heartbeat. Longtime Districts fans may well be surprised by the surfaces of You Know Im Not Going Anywhere, but after a few listens its clear this music has as much (or maybe more) that connects it to their past than that which separates it from their larger body of work. ~ Mark Deming