A dozen years later, the roles aren’t exactly reversed, but the tunes have changed. In the spring of 2013, both bands released new and much-anticipated albums – the Strokes’ fifth, Comedown Machine, and the National’s sixth, Trouble Will Find Me. In terms of sheer numbers alone, the National outsold their former clubmates nearly 2-to-1 in their first week. Trouble Will Find Me popped up on Best of the Year lists from Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Rolling Stone and is nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. 

Indie and Soul are two words that don’t often meet, much like Gospel and Electronica. But all of these genres, and a host of others, feel right at home in the spectrum of Ambassadors’ influences. Hailing from Brooklyn, the four-man band has been making music together for more than five years. Comprised of lead singer, bassist, and sometimes drummer, Sam Harris, keyboardist and brother of Sam, Casey Harris (who is legally blind and has been since birth), guitarist Noah Feldshuh, and drummer Adam Levin, Ambassadors are quickly gaining traction and becoming a prominent presence in the New York music scene as well as the country at large. Sam Harris recently spoke with Highbrow Magazine.