The tale of self-proclaimed Haute rockers Young Empires is quite unconventional. Their story began in the fall of 2009 with the help of Craigslist, and the creative core now consists of lead vocalist Matthew Vlahovich, bassist Jake Palahnuk, and drummer Taylor Hill, who joined later. Although Young Empires have been developing both their recordings and their evocative live performances for the past few years, with their debut full-length, The Gates, the band is poised to continue to map out a unique sonic territory within indie and pop music, combining syncopation and melodrama to excellent effect.

In February of 2015, Young Empires released their first new song in two years, “So Cruel.” The song quickly earned rave reviews from the likes of Stereogum and The Fader, calling the track “pure, smooth, electro-pop bliss.” After having already released the first track from their upcoming new album, Young Empires come back strong with their newest cut “The Gates,” from which the album gets its name. According to Wonderland Magazine, the track “is preparing for thousand strong crowds, supplementing the percussion with claps, echoed vocals give the impression of chanting and the beat is like a war drum.”

“At the end of the day we just want to have a positive impact on as many people as we can,” Jake says. “We want our music to be the thing that people connect to and feel good about.”