TWIN CITY – CARRIED AWAY – SINGLE REVIEW

Twin City are quite simply, one of the UK’s most exciting Indie Rock ’n’ Roll bands on the music scene right now having received previous praise and global radio play on the likes of BBC Radio, Radio X with John Kennedy and Sirius XM with Rodney Bingenheimer to gracing big festivals with appearances at the Isle of Wight and Truck Festivals as well as repeatedly selling out their own major headline shows, including last week with a sold out show at the 450 cap venue, the Fleece In Bristol

Everything was on track to see this young band’s trajectory rise into the stratosphere of stardom when tragedy struck at the end of last year following their gig with industry taste makers This Feeling, when the band’s much loved guitarist and brother James suddenly passed away.

The band who are based in Bristol are generally made up of Welsh brothers Louis (Vocals/Guitar) and Toby Ellis (Drums), Conor Feeney (Bass), Pete Refson (Rhythm Guitar).

However for this latest release, the band are showing us a much more raw and vulnerable side to their repertoire as Louis hands the main vocals mic over to Pete to become the lead vocalist.

It’s a definite change of pace for the band who are more widely known for their raucous, high energy tracks that have had packed crowds bouncing off the walls at various festival stages. ‘Carried Away’ in a complete change of direction allows Pete to shine in this very personal and heartfelt track.

The melodious track with its dreamy intro of gently strumming guitars sets the pace, before the wistful twang of the electric guitar kicks in adding a certain weight and depth along with those swinging drum beats that although ever present, do not detract from the emotionally provocative and poignant lyricism on display.

Twin City were first formed in 2021 and wasted no time in releasing their debut single ‘Shake The Walls’ (August 2021) with an accompanying music video which gained instant traction receiving over 10k views on YouTube in its first week of release along with multiple airplays on BBC Radio and Amazing Radio UK & US.

The band’s second single ‘Looking Glass’ was released in May 2022 and was quickly picked as BBC Uploader’s ‘Big New Sound’ receiving a full week of prime time airplay on BBC radio.

2022 further saw Twin City release their self titled debut EP which contained 4 tracks including the previously mentioned single ‘Looking Glass’ plus 3 other tracks which further sought to build excitement amongst industry peers and fans alike.

Other notable timeline events include Twin City’s debut gig selling out in under 24 hours forcing a venue upgrade which also sold out 24 hours later and the band’s second ever gig being as main support to The Lathums in front of a 1000 strong sold out crowd at Bristol’s Trinity Centre.

The band released their single – ‘I Feel Alive’ which caught the attention of industry peer and leading figurehead, Rodney Bingehemier on Sirius XM in America.

They followed this up with the single ‘Simple Melody’ which was championed by new music tastemakers This Feeling and John Kennedy on his Radio X radio show.

In early 2025, the band followed up this success with the prophetically titled belter ‘I Saw God’ which once again saw them receiving much praise and places from leading industry figureheads.

With a string of sold out shows, festival appearances (including two separate stages at Isle Of Wight Festival 2024), Truck Festival 2025 and high profile support slots, including shows with The View, Twin Atlantic, The Royston Club, The K’s, The Coral, Bilk, The Lightning Seeds, The Rifles and many more, Twin City played their biggest ever headline show to date with This Feeling at the Bristol Beacon on 4th April 2025 and later on in the year raised the roof on another sell out gig at Burdall’s Yard, Bath in support of the launch of their single ‘Another Day’.

‘Carried Away’ was written by Pete Refson and James Wilson one night in their shared flat as they talked late into the night about the “ones who got away” and how they wished they’d dealt with things better.

Pete has said of the track:-

“I wrote ‘Carried Away’ when I was still living with James in our mouldy little basement flat, that required pound coins to be fed into the wall to keep the lights on.

When we first moved in we were both getting nostalgic about our own “the one that got away” and feeling down about how we both fumbled it in different ways. Inspired by that, the song is about knowing no matter how much you look back, life continues marching forward no matter what,and even thogh you try top move with it, you cant help laying there and thinking about it every night.

Since we lost James this particular theme obviously hits home a lot harder for us, making this song even more sepcial to me.

I was lucky enough to be able to play this song live with James on few occasions, he always liked this song and was particualrly proud of me for it. ”

The single artwork is also a shared memory between the best friends which depicts views from a vantage point on Brandon Hill and was taken when the pair visited the beauty spot shortly after moving in together.

‘Carried Away’ was recorded in Newport and was produced by Richard Jackson.