In their short history, Birmingham’s overpass have inspired an ever-growing fanbase with songs pulsating with youthful
exuberance and the vulnerabilties of young adulthood. Their shows have been just as life-affirming, providing a
dopamine burst of wall-to-wall singalongs and an all-in-this-together communion. As they approach the release of their
debut album, ‘Elsewhere, Always’, overpass are primed to take that personal connection to much bigger audiences.

For a record made with such confidence and conviction, the dichotomy of ‘Elsewhere, Always’ is that it is born from
uncertainty. It’s a maelstrom of twenty-something existen;al confusion, an approach neatly encapsulated by its lead
single, ‘Union Staton’ - arguably their first song to truly have the arena-filling, airplay-hit potential.

‘Union Staton’ was inspired by hearing a conversation about our dog-eat-dog world. “The idea of life being one big
competition freaked me out a bit. I never wanted to fight for jobs or houses or compare myself to everyone else,”
begins vocalist/guitarist Max Newbold. He compares its Springsteen-ish imagery of a fictional train station and its
endless destinations and possibilities to “the place you run to when you’ve mentally checked out, even if you’re doing it
with a half smile and a bit of self-awareness. It ties into the album’s message: growing up clueless, making mistakes,
and realising that not having it all figured out is fine.”

That restless, vagabond anxiety simmers throughout the record. Hitting the sweet spot between the band’s anthemic
core and driving rhythms which echo The War On Drugs or Tom Petty, the melancholic ‘Is This Real?’ faces the lightning
bolt realisation of “being worn out by life’s pressures as they all become a bit too real.” And such stresses inevitably
lead to the insomnia described in ‘Sandman’, with Max’s sleep-deprived lyricism complemented by its woozy, off-kilter
contrast between its Slowdive-tinged shoegaze wall-of-guitars and its deceptively airy hook. Naturally, romantic
affliction isn’t far away either, with the soaring ‘Fall In Love’ feeling like a modern take on the kind of alt-rock balladry
that ruled the airwaves in the ‘90s.

Yet for all its turmoil, ‘Elsewhere, Always’ is also a record eager to map a course towards a brighter future. Or as bassist
India Armstrong adds, “I think the record has a lot of romance in terms of your longing and desire for something else:
the next place you want to be or the next thing you want to do. There is hope that you can get to the place that you’re
looking towards.” So when the album waves goodbye with the elegiac beauty of ‘Heaven’, it does so with nods to Jeff
Buckley, Bert Bacharach and Jeff Lynne - and with the optimism that, perhaps, everything will somehow be alright.

It’s a philosophy born from the universal reality of the post-teen life learning curve. As Max notes, “Ten of my mates
feel exactly the same, but we’re all in different situa;ons. Some have their own houses, some have a kid on the way,
and I’m still living with my parents. We’re all at these weird different points, and we don’t know where we’re going.
Once you leave university or school, the years go so fast and leave you feeling like you’re in a daze.”

But overpass as a band know precisely where they’re going. Throughout ‘Elsewhere, Always’, their grassroots grittiness
is scaled upwards into arena-reaching ambition. 2025 saw them sell-out two headline tours and power into big venues
with The Wombats, Wunderhorse and Inhaler. Such opportunities, says India “are a chance to learn from their
stagecraft, their performance and the way they interact with the crowd.” But more importantly she adds, “It’s very
inspiring and motivating. Being on those stages solidified that it would be a dream if we could get to that level.”

All of which inspired the blurred boundaries between their ecstacally received live shows and the new record. As Max
asserts, “It’s so much fun for us to play songs which are really big and euphoric. There’s an unspoken energy in the
room when there’s a crowd watching a band with those big choruses, and you can’t help but feel the connection
between everyone in the room at that given moment.”

Those future big room moments were crafed within the relative intimacy of Kempston Street Studios, Liverpool with
producer Rich Turvey (Rachel Chinirouri, Blossoms, Jamie Webster) during six weeks of Monday to Friday sessions. Max
credits Rich with helping to unlock the vision that they had for the record, as well as Spector’s Fred Macpherson, who
helped them write two songs, the groove-heavy ‘Get Up!’ and the acoustic detour ‘Bonnie + Clyde, Pt.2’.

The schedule allowed them to bring their new material to its full potential, whether that involved meticulously
recording countless takes for ‘Heaven’ or having the freedom to completely rework ‘Spinning’, where hard work and a
flash-of-inspiration reminded them of youthful wonder of first forming the band. As Max remembers, “That’s the main
thing for us, the feeling you get when a song comes together and you give each other a look as if to say, wow!”

This takes us neatly back to the roots of overpass. Max and India first met when they were 15-years-old and started
playing music together. But things quickly evolved with fellow Birmingham guitarist Elliot Rawlings joining alongside
Black Country drummer Jake Bishop.

They’re a band with the classic trait of being stronger together than their individual components. Jake credits Max as
being “very creative and a very good songwriter, he’s got this driving force which inspires us all to do the same.” Max
returns the credit, praising Jake as “the backbone, like any great drummer” who’s blessed with a gift for making
everyone laugh. Elliot’s guitar talents are matched by his organisational skills and eye for detail, while everyone agrees
that India is the “brains of the operation” who helps ensure that everything from social media to style is on point.

Despite starting with modest ambitions of simply playing some covers, they almost immediately formed a local buzz
and sold-out the Sunflower Lounge, a gig that was cancelled due to lockdown.

India: “That worked out for the best for us in a strange way because it gave us the time to practice and write on Zoom,
and to take a second to think about the direction we wanted to go in before we started gigging.” That confidence grew
when they reunited in person, albeit with the minor setback of India’s neighbour objecting to them rehearsing in her
garage. “Everyone was itching to be in a gig environment because we had been denied that for so long. It helped bring
our friends and family and people from the local community together who might not have previously been into gigs.”

From there, affirms Jake, overpass went “from being a hobby to our sole focus really quickly.” The highlights came thick-
and-fast, most notably a main stage set at Truck where the huge turnout wowed the entire band. The quality of their
songs accelerated too: look at growth from their debut ‘One Night Lover’ to 2022’s ‘3AM’, and again from their first EP
‘From The Night’ to ‘Elsewhere, Always’. They’re defiantly proud of Birmingham’s musical heritage too - from Sabbath
to The Streets - and credit the city’s multifaceted creativity, character, and sense of community as being vital to their
rise so far.

Not that there’s any standing still for overpass: a statement supported by the fact that every song on ‘Elsewhere,
Always’ is brand new.

“I want us to achieve longevity as a band,” asserts Jake, “and make sure that every time we do a new project it’s a step
forward.”

That’s how Max feels, too: “I want to make sure that if you’re a fan of us, you could be a fan for life.”