Album review: New Design – ‘Where I Need to Be’

Not to be discouraged, Brampton, Ontario’s New Design are back and better than ever. Following somewhat of a hiatus, the quartet has returned with a sparkling new EP entitled Where I Need to Be, due for release on June 21, 2019 via Sunday Drive Records.

New Design’s sound is refreshing yet familiar, unique yet drawing on the influence of many talented forerunners. Any track on Where I Need to Be could have been part of The Emo Diaries, a collection of compilations released by Deep Elm Records beginning in the late 1990s through the 2010s. They featured the likes of Benton Falls, Cross My Heart and an early iteration of Further Seems Forever, New Design’s forebears in sincere post-hardcore.

The EP’s namesake and lead single “Where I Need to Be” is hauntingly mesmerizing in the best way, featuring lush guitar hooks and earnest, endearing vocals. With their passion re-ignited, New Design will celebrate the release of Where I Need to Be by hitting the road at the end of June for some dates in Ontario alongside Peacemaker followed by a short run with June Body in Eastern Canada during the third week of July.

TAGS: New Design | Sunday Drive Records