By Jenell Taylor, Columns and Features Editor 

[nypop, 2025]

Rating: 7/10

Key Tracks: “together,” “you,” “city”

These discrete Londoners want to remain a secret. Unfortunately to that sentiment, their music is a shout in the dark. Coumba Samba and Gretchen Lawrence are roommates-turned-best friends who make up the experimental electronic duo NEW YORK. In a 2024 interview with Document Journal, Samba tells of how she “thought the project would stay under wraps for a while, because it’s hard to find.” Playing small pop-ups and curated art gallery shows, they have succeeded in keeping their circle small. However, their new 18-minute EP Push dares to expose NEW YORK to the masses.

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The first track, “alone,” is fresh and noncommittal, made complete with the familiar beeps and whirs that sprinkle the rest of NEW YORK’s discography. The lyrics, “Erase you from my head/ Where I can’t stand,” are sung in a cool, deadpan tone, set to heavily-processed electronics that feel like the static of an asleep limb in the best way. 

The use of a monotone cadence across the EP allows you to focus on the instrumentation and complex mixing rather than lyrics. Lawrence and Samba’s aim is on dancing: forming an emotional connection with the noise and feeling. These are tracks you play in the car, in the club, or while walking the dimly lit streets of a city at night. If Charli xcx’s Brat didn’t awaken the inner club kid within your heart, Push will. 

The fifth track, “city,” is the essence of a song I’d want to hear when I’m having quiet, personal thoughts in a loud room. Samba and Lawrence sing “Can you come over/ Cause you’re who I want to see,” set to a euphoric, trance-like backing track. Using heavily-chopped vocals, NEW YORK puts you at the intersection of technology and real life. A lot of emotion can be felt in their incorporation of heavy synths, a sound that almost instantaneously spirits you to the ‘80s.

NEW YORK might want to remain as a well-kept secret, but for that to be the case, their music would have to be ordinary. With only 3 albums under their belt, Samba and Lawrence are pushing limits and exploring the depth of sound. Push is understated and straight to the point. It leaves no room for confusion about their message, and requests only one thing from its listeners: dance.