Vacation Manor

Much like photos, songs enable us to relive the most special moments of our lives.
Thumbing through the pages of a scrapbook or scrolling through your phone resembles
dropping the needle on your favorite record or scouring a playlist. In similar fashion,
Vacation Manor crystallize those moments and memories in the echoes of shimmering
guitars, glistening keys, upbeat sunny grooves, and iridescent melodies. On their 2021
self-titled full-length debut, Vacation Manor [Nettwerk], the Virginia duo—Nathan
Towles [vocals, guitar] and Cole Young [drums]—stitch together shared and personal
experiences in a patchwork of vibrant and vivid alternative anthems.
“To us, the album feels like looking at photos on your phone from the last few years,”
says Nathan. “The music is very experiential. We believe songs are like lifeboats. You
use them to get back to shore again. Once you’re there, the song is for whoever needs
it next.”
Vacation Manor continue to sail those lifeboats back and forth. In 2016, they introduced
themselves via the debut Girl, Say EP followed by Everything I Can’t Say Out Loud two
years later. Racking up over 35 million streams, they continued to entrance and engage
listeners. During 2020, they teased out the album with the Thoughts In Progress, Pt. 1
EP—comprising four songs from the upcoming full-length. Garnering critical acclaim,
Atwood Magazine applauded it as “another installment of what Vacation Manor does
best – creating songs laden with earworm lyrics and bright sounds.” Over the past two
years, they carefully architected this body of work. Vacation Manor retreated to Joshua
Tree to record with producer Charlie Stavish before making intermittent trips back and
forth to Nashville from February 2020 through September 2020 where they worked with
Kyle Cummings.
“All of these places and people gave the album different vibes,” Cole goes on. “It made
it feel interesting, because there were a lot of peaks and valleys. Nathan and I had been
quarantining together in Virginia, because we lived one street away from each other at
the time. We would drive to Nashville, go to the studio, and head back to our hotel
room. The Pandemic made everything a lot more intense. The good thing was there
were no distractions.”
After setting the stage with Thoughts In Progress, Pt. 1, they shared the sunny and
buoyant “Can’t Run Forever” before dropping the intimate piano-driven “Feel

Something.” Opening up the world of Vacation Manor, the single “Parachute” drifts
above a steady beat, nostalgic piano, and clean guitar as the vocals flutter from
vulnerable verses into a high register hum.
“Lyrically, it’s about wanting to trust all the way in a relationship, but you’ve been
disappointed so many times that you can’t,” Nathan elaborates. “You always keep an
eye on the exit like, ‘I don’t know when I’m going to have to unexpectedly get out of
here.’ It’s not a celebration of the feeling. Instead, I’m asking myself, ‘Why is this
something I go through?’ The song is essentially the narrator’s struggle.”
The album culminates on the introspective melodic bliss of “Ending Credits.” The guitar
glows in the background as the vocals reflect the warmth of Nathan’s delivery before he
offers a fitting conclusion to this trip.
“I was trying to write something that wasn’t too directly about quarantine,” he says. “It
was hard to avoid, because you can’t really go anywhere, and everything felt heavier all
the time. I live on a street where there are always people running by because there’s an
old college on the other side. It was weird for it to be springtime and not see anyone.
There was a strange darkness to the moment, but the song has a sad sense of hope.”
“It’s a song you might listen to when you’re walking home alone from a bar at the end of
the night,” adds Cole. “‘Ending Credits’ is really about missing normalcy. There are so
many feelings inside of it.”
In the end, all of those feelings make Vacation Manor worth revisiting—much like your
favorite photo album.
“If you listen to the whole record, I hope it’s like watching a movie you relate to,” Cole
leaves off. “Even though we’ve been a band for so long, it encompasses our personal
tastes and experiences.”
“It’s a culmination of the last seven years, because we started as a garage band and
ended up making a record we’re really proud of,” Nathan agrees. “Every part of our
collective personality was represented. I’m excited to relive all of the things that led us
to make this. It’s Vacation Manor.”