Photo Credit:
Words: Izzy Hayden

With only an hour’s slot, choosing what songs to play at an album release show can be a challenge but it’s a skill Overpass have perfected. Zig-zagging between their highly-anticipated new album ‘Elsewhere, Always’ and treating us to their fan favourites, the night was filled with Indie-pop brilliance. 

From the moment ‘Union Station’s’ catchy guitar begins, the crowd is thrilled and their energy only grows. Despite its darker lyrics grappling the anxiety that comes with growing up, the opening track is made for live shows. Combining a blissful melody with frontman Max Newbold’s intense vocals and a rich bassline, it’s lively and emotive at once. After years of touring and gaining masses of press recognition, fans were itching for this album and are definitely pleased with what they’ve been given, knowing every single word to the album’s first release. 

An obvious crowd pleaser, their most streamed track ‘3am’ comes next. Sending a wave of nostalgia across the venue, the single makes it feel like 2022 again. One thing Overpass never fail to do is create a song so yearnful that it can’t help but emotionally resonate with fans who belt back every lyric. Nevertheless, they manage to hide the bleaker lyrics and dress them up in a playful tune, one that in this case even becomes a mosh starter.  

Considering ‘Fall In Love’ was only released a couple of days before the show, it says a lot that audience members get on their friend’s shoulders, some even tearing up. While an eerie riff runs through the song, Newbold’s vocals are vulnerable, singing about falling in love again after a heartbreak.  

Playing through the new album, ‘Get Up!’ and ‘Forever, You’ are summer songs. With bold guitar hooks and bridges that prove the album was worth the wait they have fans dancing whereas, ‘Bonnie And Clyde pt.2’ is an acoustic track bursting with sentiment. A tenderness in Newbold’s vocals is apparent, they’ve truly turned heartache into a song and as the audience stare wide eyed it’s clear that hurt is infectious. 

Reminding us of the glory of their 2025 EP ‘Dependant’ we almost get whiplash as they dip their toes into every emotion. ‘Slow’ is another melancholic ballad, thriving on agonising guitar licks and a woeful drum pattern it lands on the complete other end of the musical spectrum to ‘Like No Other’ which is jumpy and carefree. Another entrant from the EP, ‘Take It Or Leave It’ is their riff heaviest song to date, more reminiscent of alternative rock than their usual indie-pop twang. 

Ending on two of the album’s singles, they look across the room, having pinch me moments. It seems it’s known these are the final songs and fans make the most of it. As per, the crowd is loud for ‘Heaven’ another one with touching lyrics and even louder for ‘Is This Real?,’ a great choice to finish on, vivid and electric. 

While it’s been known to those following Overpass for a long time now that they are gonna be a big name, this tour is really solidifying that. ‘Elsewhere, Always’ is already skyrocketing, instantly selling out on vinyl and understandably so. From not only their glowing discography but also the enchanting gigs they deliver, Overpass are working hard to prove they aren’t just a little band from Birmingham anymore, they are special.